A Stitch in Time
by cassikat
Summary: AU.  Dumbledore should never have left Harry on the Dursley's doorstep unattended.  Now someone else has found him, and what will become of the Wizarding World with Harry raised by the most pragmatic genius in the universe?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Harry Potter (he belongs to J.K. Rowling) nor anything to do with Doctor Who (which all belongs to the BBC). The only thing I own is the plot, and even that's derivative.

**author's note**: Some content of the first chapter is quoted from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This text is in italics.

(edited June 15 2011 to correct a spelling gaffe)

Chapter 1: Snipping the threads

Privet Drive was completely dark - all the street lamps were out, and all the residents were asleep. There were, however, two people awake in front of Number Four...and one other, concealed in a hedge. The sharp-featured woman had been drawn by an uneasy prickling of senses that the ancient man and the woman in the green cloak didn't possess, as well as a rather over-sized helping of curiosity. Uneasily, the woman curled herself a bit more comfortably into the hedge, movements timed to coincide with a light breeze, and settled in to listen closely as the ancient man and the woman beside him continued their conversation.

The ancient had been gazing at a pocket watch, and snapped it shut the moment his observer stopped moving. _"Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"_

His companion nodded. _"Yes. And I don't suppose you're going to tell me_ why_ you're here, of all places?"_

_"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."_

_"You don't mean - you_ can't _mean the people who live_ here?" That seemed to have distressed the woman with the square glasses, as she'd spoken nearly loud enough to wake a very light sleeper. _"Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"_

_"It's the best place for him,"_ the old man - Dumbledore - said in a no-nonsense tone. "_His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."_

The observer missed most of the reply as she was occupied in scoffing at the very idea of a letter being at all capable of explaining anything acceptably. She frowned at the other two people and returned to paying them a considerable amount of her attention.

_"...famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"_

_"Exactly. It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all of that until he's ready to take it?"_

That seemed to have stumped the bespectacled woman, although if the observer had been part of the conversation, she would have had plenty to say. Isolate a child away from the knowledge of where he came from? Ridiculous! Keep him ignorant in the name of sheltering him from fame? Of all the insane things...she scoffed silently and regretted not having some of the more interesting things she'd invented in centuries past directly to hand. That Dumbledore would make a most excellent tree, indeed he would. Idiotic human - there were a number of ways to keep a famous child safe, and still let him have knowledge of his past and **why** he was famous.

The roar of a motorcycle nearly startled the woman out of the hedge, and she silently scolded herself for missing something that obvious. The flying(!) motorcycle landed, and a very, very large man was revealed as the driver. Though how he'd flown safely with a bundle of blankets in his arms was a bit of a mystery.

_"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"_

_"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir."_ The large man named Hagrid dismounted the motorcycle, still gently cradling the bundle of blankets. "_Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."_

_"No problems, were there?"_

_"No sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."_

The observer's constant frown deepened as the other two peered into the bundle of blankets in Hagrid's arms. She couldn't see what they were looking at from inside the hedge, and all she could do was assume that the bundle contained the Harry Potter that had been the subject of much fussing. And, annoyingly, no one was speaking loudly enough at the moment that she could hear past the rustling of the hedge in the recurrent breeze.

That problem continued until after the bundle was passed over to Dumbledore, and Hagrid bent far over to kiss the child within the blankets, then let out a howl reminiscent of a wounded dog.

_"Shhh!"_ the bespectacled woman hissed, rather like a cat. "_You'll wake the Muggles!"_

_"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles-"_

_"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found,"_ the woman was whispering as she patted Hagrid on the arm. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had stepped over the low garden wall and had taken the blanket-wrapped child to the doorstep of Number Four. A letter was tucked inside the blankets, then Dumbledore rejoined his companions. A full minute passed with all three standing there looking at the bundle, then Dumbledore spoke again.

_"Well, that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."_

_"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."_

The observer nodded to herself as Hagrid left, flying away on the motorcycle. So, the green-cloaked woman was a teacher, named McGonagall, likely working at the same school as the man Dumbledore. Still, they had no business leaving an orphan on a doorstep in the dead of night. She'd have to do something about that as soon as they left.

After Dumbledore restored the street lamps and left, the Rani continued to wait and watch. She'd seen McGonagall become a cat and slink off down the street, and she didn't want to be caught in the act of removing an abandoned child. Half an hour later, with no signs of returning felines, she exited the hedge and strode to the doorstep of Number Four for her first sight of the blanket-wrapped child.

Black and mussed hair moved as Harry turned in his blankets, and the Rani sighed and shook her head. "Come along, Harry," she murmured, and knelt to pick him up. "it's time to depart this haven of stultifying conformity." She sneered at the houses all alike as she strode briskly away, the clicking of her boot-heels the only indication that someone was there at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I still own neither Harry Potter (he belongs to J.K. Rowling) nor anything to do with Doctor Who (which all belongs to the BBC). The only thing I own is the plot, and even that's derivative.

**Author's Note:** Don't expect daily updates. But this one does insist on being written, so... :) Timeskip in either the next chapter or the one after.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Weaving new threads<p>

Inside her TARDIS, the Rani paced and muttered imprecations against one Albus Dumbledore, the letter he'd left in Harry's blankets clenched in a slender fist. "Blast and damn that...that...that _man_," she growled, crunching the parchment into a ball. "'Welcome Harry into your home and special wards will protect you and him' - what rot. There wasn't anything at all special about that house, certainly no energy fields. I was certainly right about that - this letter explained nothing!"

She paused, and despite her currently angry demeanor, gently stroked the messy hair of the still-sleeping Harry. "Don't you worry, you won't be left to idiots of any type. And once you're older, you'll help me ensure that things will go just as I want them, won't you?" An unaccustomed soft smile curved her thin lips, and she picked up the still-sleeping child. "Yes, you'll do very well in my care young Harry. You just keep sleeping for now, and I'll take care of everything." First off, she had to do something about that fresh injury marring his forehead, and check into his overall state of health. Her medical center was only a few doors down the hall though - a fast trip with a sleeping child.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the Rani was nearly ready to commit murder for the second time in one night. Whatever had been done following the orphaning of Harry, it had included attaching a psychic leech to his scar. And she couldn't remove it without making worse knots in the future than there already were. Blasted stupid idiot <em>wizards<em> had no respect for anything or anyone, did they? At least she'd managed to remove the links stretching from Harry to...somewhere. No one could track him now, and nothing could add to the drain of the psychic leech. She'd simply have to research the matter and try again another time. Perhaps in a few days, once she'd gotten used to having a small child around again.

Harry picked just then to interrupt by waking and saying something in incomprehensible baby babble. The Rani smiled again, dark eyes softening as she picked the lad up and held him in her arms. "Welcome, Harry, to your new home. Are you hungry yet?"

She carried him down one hall, made a left, down that hall and up a flight of stairs and into the third door on the right which turned out to be a kitchen. The Rani raised an eyebrow at the presence of a highchair, then smiled fondly. "I see you're prepared as always - well, we're keeping him so do arrange a bedroom?" A soft hum was her answer, and she nodded as she secured Harry in his highchair then sat next to him. "So, are you hungry? If so, what shall I give you to eat? Something soft, you're rather young. How about a banana?"

Harry eyed the banana when it appeared, but didn't reach for it even when the Rani turned it into neatly-sliced banana bits on a plate. Instead, he quivered his lip at her and snuffled. "Mama? Dada? Pa'foo? Moo'y?"

She sighed and twined a dark curl around her finger, then gave it a sharp tug. She really ought to have expected this...now to see if she could explain things so that a fifteen-month old human could understand. With a bit of luck she'd manage the trick, otherwise she'd simply make him forget for a while. "I don't know about Pa'foo or Moo'y, Harry. But a bad man made your mama and dada go away forever, and you're going to stay with me and be safe."

Harry snuffled harder, and his eyes got suspiciously shiny. "Ba' man an' the greenli' make mama go 'way? An' dada?"

The Rani nodded and stroked his hair again. "Yes. I'm not sure about the bad man though, and that's why you're staying with me. Call me Rani." It seemed she'd lucked out - Harry was more intelligent than the average human, and she wouldn't have to make him forget. Just deal with nightmares and him missing who - or what - ever 'pa'foo and moo'y' were.

But he was definitely crying now, so with a sigh she picked him up and sat him in her lap. Children, she seemed to remember, needed to be held and cuddled when they were upset. She'd simply have to try and not be awkward about it, for Harry's mental health.

* * *

><p>Sometime later, when her shirt was quite damp and Harry had cried himself to sleep in her arms, the Rani still sat in the kitchen, absently eating pieces of the banana while she thought. It was likely she would have to rearrange her tentative schedule, probably several times before Harry allowed her to have a settled rhythm to work with. But...well, he <em>was<em> absolutely adorable, and reminded her of some of her grandchildren. He'd be worth the many problems, even if he was only human.

Banana dealt with, she shifted Harry to an easier position, stood, and left to find out exactly where her TARDIS had thought an appropriate place to put a human child for sleeping.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling owns him and his world) nor anything to do with Doctor Who (the series, characters and concepts of which belong to the BBC). I do own the plot, somewhat, and the cats that appear in this chapter. Also the planet Arceratera and the resident teleporting cats.

Author's Note: A bit of a time skip here with a few flashbacks. Enjoy :)

Chapter 3: Warp and Weft

The Rani sat heavily in an overstuffed chair, and winced as one of her cats leapt most heavily into her lap. She grunted, then frowned at the cat. "Something you wanted to say, Xeles?" The cat, as any annoyed cat would, simply glared at her, then stomped in a circle until she was facing the currently-sleeping Harry and lifted a leg to start cleaning behind it. Clear signs of feline anger and annoyance if there ever were any. Once Xeles had settled from expressing her opinion, the Rani propped her feet up with a sigh and started petting the cat. "It's your own fault, you know," she murmured to the very plump cat in her lap. "If you hadn't decided that an Arceraterian Teleporting cat would make a perfect mate, you wouldn't be so grouchy about Harry being himself."

Xeles took offense, naturally, as any pregnant cat would, and flaunted her rear at the Rani before stomping her way down the Rani's legs to the footstool, where she leapt to the floor and proceeded out of the room. Quite an insult for a cat, but to the Rani it was amusing - especially since Xeles' littermate Quaiz was contentedly curled up with the six-year-old Harry, both boys sleeping peacefully. A lighter thump drew her attention away from the sleeping boys, and she stretched out a hand to pet the matriarch of the small cat-clan that shared her TARDIS with herself and Harry. "It's been a strange ride, hasn't it Calonda?" The older cat purred and, as a proper Gallifreyan cat would, tucked herself up by the Rani's head to aid in her person's thinking. Nothing had really been the same, the Rani mused, ever since she had collected Harry from his abandonment.

* * *

><p>It had been a disturbing three months, she mused, as she stared intently at the sleeping infant in his crib. Harry was a wonderful child when he was awake, bright (for a human) and eager to learn. It was when he slept that there was a problem, and it interfered with the research and projects she could only work on when he was sleeping. Even her own cat, Calonda, couldn't keep him asleep when the nightmares came, and it wasn't advisable anymore in any case. No, something would have to be done, and quickly, or she'd be driven to mistreating the boy from frustration. And since that was what she had saved him from, it would be stupid to expose him to more from his rescuer.<p>

No, the nightmares were detrimental, so she'd simply have to get rid of them. Once he awoke, she'd commit some mental therapy and...soften...the memories that were spawning the nightmares. She really ought to have remembered from her long experience that not everything went according to plan.

Once she'd explained everything to him (well, as best as could be done, given his age), she'd set to work connecting their minds so she could artificially 'age' the trauma that caused the nightmares. That was when things got complicated. The psychic leech was involved with the section of mind that held the trauma, so it had to be walled away, then the trauma itself had to be gentled and faded. And then when she was disconnecting them, a surge of energy had crossed from Harry to herself and then back. The odd energy had copied the format of her mind, to an extent - something quite outside of all her formidable knowledge. _And_ it had linked them, somewhat like a mother to her son, but she didn't discover that for over a week.

No, she'd been quite involved in attempting to determine whether the partial overlay of a Time Lord's mind would do damage to an infant human. When she'd assured herself of Harry's survival and continued sanity, she had to help Calonda birth the two kits that would eventually become Xeles and Quaiz, and by the time _that_ was done, she'd quite gotten used to the subconscious knowledge of Harry's location and state of health and didn't really pay it much more thought, other than a few distance tests.

* * *

><p>By the time Harry was three, the Rani couldn't properly remember what life had been like without him. He was even smarter than he'd been before the Incident, naturally, and he grew like a well-tended plant. Admittedly, his education would be strange to a normal human, but as long as he could understand it, she would continue teaching him the sciences and proper history, maths and critical thinking until he reached his limits - which might be further than she had first thought, since Quaiz had adopted him very firmly. She also had to reteach him English, because the Incident had rewired his brain for Gallifreyan. Useful for his current education, but she wasn't sure if she and her TARDIS would be able to constantly stay with Harry past his first nexus-point, so he had to regain a mastery of his birth-language just in case.<p>

It wasn't all education - even Gallifreyan children had needed time for amusements, and human children needed nearly twice as much. So they went hither and yon, exploring parks (with and without ice cream), once playing hide-go-seek with bumbling governmental idiots (which eventuated a new Rule, Never Speak to Snakes in Public) and, as a special treat for Harry, every week stopping to play with other children. Never the same place, unfortunately, but it was useful to let him run and scream and be a child with other children.

* * *

><p>While the Rani was reminiscing, Harry and Quaiz were waking up from their nap. He grinned at his constant companion and held a finger up to his lips to indicate silence. Co-conspirator appropriately hushed, Harry slid off his beanbag cushion and crept along the floor 'till he reached his mum's footstool, Quaiz following right behind. A pounce was readied, complete with wriggling, but the moment he got airborne he felt his mum's hands catch him firmly around his middle, and he wound up in her lap. Just not the way he'd planned.<p>

"Sneaking up on me? Shame on you...you know what happens now, don't you?" The Rani smirked at her almost-son and flexed her fingers.

"You're going to not tickle me and we're going to have an ice cream lunch?" Harry smiled guilelessly up at his mum and added in the Look, which he'd heard called puppy-eyes at other places.

"Mmm, no and no," she resisted the Look easily, started tickling and smiled at the happy laughter. "We are never again having an ice cream lunch, not after what you did to the halls. I'm surprised the TARDIS lets us have ice cream at all after that."

He couldn't respond for a minute, he was laughing so hard. But his mum never tickled him that long, and shortly he was leaned up against her and petting Quaiz while she petted Calonda. "It was just a little paint, mum. And Quaiz and Xeles helped!"

"Be that as it may, it's still a sterling example of why your sugar intake is regulated." She raised an eyebrow in a gentle scold. "I swear, you get more than one scoop of ice cream and you get into more trouble than...than the Doctor."

"Do not," Harry snorted and stuck his tongue out, very briefly. "He gets into _loads_ more trouble than I do. _He_ goes looking for it, I just happen on it." He frowned and asked, "Are we ever going to see him again, mum?"

The Rani rolled her eyes in disdain and snorted softly. "I'd rather we didn't. But if you really, really want to, and skip your next play outing, I suppose we can track him down."

For that, Harry had to think long and hard. Play with other kids, or see the Doctor. Be his age for a change with other members of his species, or continue on the quest he'd started the first time he met the Doctor. Decisions, decisions.

Finally he looked back up at his mum and nodded firmly. "I'd like to learn how to track the Doctor down, please. I can play next week."

She sighed heavily and shook her head. "Why you're so attracted to that idiot is beyond me, but all right. First apologise to Xeles for whatever you did, then I'll show you how to use a TARDIS to track a Time Lord. But we're not staying if he's up to his usual tricks, understood?"

"Yes mum, I understand. See you in the console room!" Harry whooped and threw himself off his mum's lap, dashing off to apologise to one cat while followed by the other.

"That boy..." The Rani heaved herself out of the chair and left the room, ruing the day she'd found the Doctor by accident.

(closing a/n: Gallifreyan cats were reputed to have the ability to help their owners think, so it makes sense that the Rani would have several...at least in a pet-friendly regeneration. Next chapter will cover exploring magic the Time Lord way, the trip to Arceratera and the first meeting with the Doctor)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter (he and his universe belong to J.K. Rowling), nor do I own anything to do with Doctor Who (the universe of Doctor Who belongs to the BBC). Plot's mine, so are the cats. Also various and sundry alien planets and their inhabitants, bully-boys and assorted dictators.

AN: Been somewhat deprived of internet, and I've been sick, so I'm sorry if you reviewed and I haven't replied - I've seen them all, and Thank You for your comments! Also, thanks to everyone who reads and didn't review - that I've got readers is SUCH a thrill! The action this time is split over two chapters, with a bit of a cliffy, but the two chapters are being posted together, so no panicking at the end of this one, okay? :D.

Also, I've had a few people in PM ask me what Dumbledore's reaction was when he realised that Harry wasn't where he'd been left (See ch 2 for how he got the clue). So a bit of his reaction is included, as well as the first meeting with the Doctor. Most Doctor encounters will likely be set in that nebulous gap between Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime, I'll note it if they're different. Oh yes, a lot of Gallifreyan chat in this chapter, marked by a ^ at the beginning and end of sentences instead of ".

* * *

><p>Interlude: Snipped threads backlash<p>

Albus Dumbledore frowned into his fireplace as he attempted to discern exactly what was going on. He had applied several monitoring spells to young Harry, to be able to find him regardless of where he was kept, as well as to keep an eye on his health. And yet, all of his recently applied spellwork refused to register on his monitoring devices as ever having been cast at all. It was as though Harry Potter had never existed. Except...except that he still registered as alive in the Book.

It was a puzzle, indeed it was. For he didn't think that the blood wards would block his monitoring spells - after all, he'd cast the spells _and_ he'd erected the wards. Still, it was possible that the wards would be responsive to Petunia's desires. And if she'd wanted to hide Harry from anyone, it was just barely possible that the wards _would_ interfere, despite that they'd been raised by the same person who'd cast the monitoring spells.

"I think I shall go and visit young Petunia, Fawkes. Perhaps once she understands that Harry is safe if I know how he is doing, then my monitoring spells will take effect."

Fawkes would have rolled his eyes if he could. He didn't think that they were going to find what Albus though they'd find...but it wasn't as though he could say as much so that Albus would understand him, was it? So he simply landed on Albus' shoulder and took them to Number Four Privet Drive to see what they would find there on that November 3rd.

An hour later, if anyone had kept track of the time, Fawkes and Albus Dumbledore returned to his office at Hogwarts, one quite a bit less disgruntled than the other. Fawkes returned to his perch and crooned softly as his person indulged in what some would call 'throwing a fit'. When he'd calmed down enough to be understandable, Fawkes rejoined Albus in his chair.

"I simply do not understand it, Fawkes. Petunia claims she never laid eyes on Harry, much less brought him into her home, and legillimensing her proved her honest. What could have happened to Harry? I ensured that no one who meant him harm would be able to approach the house, and there were none awake who could have taken him away before the sleeping spell wore off. So tell me, old friend - what has happened to Harry Potter? And how do I find him again?"

If Fawkes could have shrugged, he would have. Instead, he nudged the Book of Admissions and crooned a heartening song.

"I would rather not wait until he received his invitation to Hogwarts, my friend. But still, it is a comfort to know he lives. Perhaps..." He trailed off and shook his head, then leaned back in his chair. It would be entirely too difficult to break the protections on the Book - young Harry would be attending Hogwarts before it could be managed. "No, I suppose we will have to wait, in the end."

Another croon, and Fawkes rubbed his head against Albus' cheek, being caressed in his turn by a wrinkled old hand. "Thank you my dear friend. I suppose everything _will_ look different in the morning. And it truly is a gift to know that the dear boy is still alive."

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><p>Chapter Four: A new thread adds itself<p>

It had taken Harry a while to apologise to Xeles - she'd been of the (entirely understandable) opinion that birthday boys were _not_ permitted to attach balloons to her pregnant person to see if she'd fly just because she was...expanded. But she did eventually forgive him in the end, and he dashed off for the console room hoping his mum hadn't changed her mind. She did, sometimes, and he never could figure out why. It was probably cause she was _old_, and his mum.

He was rather fond of the Doctor - after all, the man, mad as his mum said he was, had rescued him when he was four. It was probably what happened during the whole adventure that made his mum so peeved at the Doctor. He didn't care though - she'd get over it eventually, and he'd get them together so they could be _old_ and Time Lordy together and not so lonely anymore.

Most people, he thought as he rounded a corner, would have developed an aversion to someone like the Doctor, just 'cause he was scary at scary people. He just thought those people would be more terrified by his mum, who could out-scary anyone - oh, and that the Doctor was awesome and had cool pockets. And, if his mum would ever relent, the Doctor would make a pretty good Dad...but he kept that opinion to himself. It wasn't time yet to tell his mum that he had picked out a dad - she had to tolerate him better first. Which would be easier if she didn't keep bringing up that trouble on Kalzansarex IV all the time - it wasn't even the Doctor's fault he'd gotten into trouble. Well, not _that_ time, anyway.

Putting the past aside, Harry bounced into the console room and grinned up at his mum. "Here I am - are you going to show me how to find the Doctor now?"

His mum rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, though I'd rather we didn't. Now come over here, I need to show you what to do."

Harry beamed up at his mum, then settled in to watch what she did. He knew she'd give in 'cause it was his birthday. He just hoped the Doctor wasn't being too horribly busy, so he could enjoy his time with his rescuer, friend, and maybe-hopefully-eventually-dad.

* * *

><p>Kalzansarex IV, two subjective years ago. Caldirav'la, capitol of the Ruling Dalrheve<p>

"Get that kid!"

"Don't let him get away!"

"The Dalrheve will be furious if he escapes!"

The Doctor found himself shoved into the mouth of an alley as three guards went charging by. "Not good," he murmured to himself. "I seem to have mistimed my arrival by a good three centuries. Now, who are they chasing and what did the kid do to get the attention of the Dalrheve?" He'd have probably gone on to see if the particular little shop he'd wanted to visit had existed in this era, or to see what the general gossip was, if his sharp ears hadn't caught a rustle and a sniffle from further down the alley.

"Hello!" He exclaimed softly as he eased his way closer. "You can come out now, they're gone. It's all right, you're safe now." A flat bit of refuse shimmied a little, then slid away to reveal a four year old boy. "Now, how did you get in there, my lad? Never mind, just hold - still - while - I - gotcha!" The Doctor had been climbing into the pile of refuse as he'd spoken, and scooped up the terrified boy on the last word.

The terrified boy who promptly started kicking and squirming, trying to get loose. And whimpering words in a language the Doctor had thought he'd never hear from anybody ever again.

^Mama! Mama help me! Mama where are you?^ The boy never raised his voice, as though he knew screaming would draw the guards. He didn't stop fighting though, until the Doctor pulled him into a tight embrace and murmured to him in Gallifreyan.

^Hush little one, you're safe, no one will hurt you, you're fine, we'll find your mama soon, I promise.^ He shifted the now-still boy in his arms and brushed the hair off his face. ^Better now? Good. I'm the Doctor, what's your name? And what's your mama's name?^

Distrustful green eyes peered up into brown ones until he saw in those brown eyes that the man - the Doctor - meant every word he said. ^I'm Harry. Mama's Rani, and mama's lost an' bad men're after me cause I popped 'way from one, and I can't find mama!^

The Doctor's knees wobbled, and he sank into a sitting position in a relatively refuse-free spot, barely noticing that it was also sheltered from the street. Just as he'd never expected to hear Gallifreyan again, he'd never expected to ever hear the name of another Time Lord - especially not _hers_ - and to say he'd had a bit of a shock was like saying banana peels were a bit yellow.

At least it wasn't the Master again, he thought. Although what the Rani was doing with a human child, and how she'd made him call her 'mama', not to mention how (and why) she'd taught him Gallifreyan...well, he'd have to find her and have a good old-fashioned shout at her to get the answers, wouldn't he? In the meantime, he had a child to look after ang get to safety, a mad scientist to find, and the Black Guards of the Dalrheve to avoid. Fun day ahead, it really would be. Enough so that he didn't regret showing up three centuries early, even if the Black Guards could be as bad or worse than the Judoon.

^Harry? Did your mum ever say anything about what to do if you two got separated?^ He'd get Harry safe first, then he could deal with the rest of it. And if the Rani hadn't arranged matters for Harry's safety, there would be a lot more than a _little_ shouting going on.

Harry sniffled and burrowed between the Doctor's long coat and his suit-coat. ^Mama said use my remote an' TARDIS would find me. But I lost the remote when I popped, and I can't find her and I can't find mama and I'm scared.^ Big green eyes peered out of the messy bangs, and Harry sniffled again. ^Do we find mama now?^

^Soon Harry. I have to have a bit of a think first, okay?^ It sounded like the Rani had left Harry with a remote to call her TARDIS to him, but he'd lost it. It had probably been in a pocket and fallen out when Harry got picked on by the Black Guards. Which reminded him...^Harry? How did the bad men get interested in you in the first place? And what do you mean when you say you popped?^

Harry looked a little sheepish at the question and burrowed a bit deeper into his safe space, accidentally getting one foot in a pocket. ^I dunno. I was there and the bad men came, and I vanished with a pop and showed up somewhere else, but the remote was gone and so was mama and I was lost and more bad men showed up so I popped here and I'm still lost but I found you.^ Harry made a scared-face and squirmed up and out until he could look the Doctor straight in the face. ^Do...do you think they've got mama?^

The Doctor smiled and ruffled Harry's messy hair. ^If they did take your mama away, they'll regret it. She...well, I used to know her and she didn't take kindly to idiots being stupid at her. Now,^ He stood up and shifted Harry around so the boy could ride on his hip, then pulled out his sonic screwdriver and made some adjustments. ^first we're going to find your remote, then we'll get you tucked up safe and sound in your mama's TARDIS, then I'll go find your mama. How's that?^

^S'good.^ Harry adjusted himself so he could ride comfortably and hung on tight as the Doctor started to follow his screwdriver.

* * *

><p>Some distance away, in a slightly better section of Caldirav'la, the Rani was also using a sonic screwdriver to follow the traces of TARDIS technology. She didn't think that Harry had remembered the remote, and she was hoping she'd find him with it, hiding somewhere. He really ought to have calmed down and used the remote by now though, even though he'd been using that odd little psychokinetic relocation ability of his. Unless...unless he was being prevented, which was entirely possible, given the presence of the Black Guards. Her pace quickened and her lips set in a thin line when the beeping of the sonic reached a strident pitch.<p>

It whined at her until she reached the middle of the alley she was currently in, and it was a pity that the two men who'd been pursuing her from a small distance couldn't see her face, or they would have turned and walked away. When the sonic started screaming it's beeps, she turned it off, knelt in the middle of the alley and gently picked up a child-sized box with a button. She tucked it in a pocket and scowled, already reaching into another pocket. Someone had roughed up _her_ son and made him lose his secure escape. _Someone_ was going to pay dearly, preferably with his life after an excruciatingly long time of being shown how bad it was to torment children.

At least he wasn't panicking anymore, not that she could sense. Hopefully that meant he was calmer now, and not just out of range. Still on her knees, she pulled some bits and bobs out of her pocket to make a longer-ranged Harry-finder...then something suddenly cast a shadow between herself and the sun. She managed half a turn before an explosion of light took her consciousness away.

In the alley, a silent sonic screwdriver, a few doodads and a muddle of footprints would be the only clues for the Doctor, when he got there, that someone had kidnapped the Rani.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter (he and his universe belong to J.K. Rowling), nor do I own anything to do with Doctor Who (the universe of Doctor Who belongs to the BBC). Plot's mine, so are the cats. Also various and sundry alien planets and their inhabitants, bully-boys and assorted dictators.

Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of Shouty!Doctor, but the situation resolved differently. Still, I think I managed quiet conflict well enough. Anyway, enjoy! :)

* * *

><p>A short time later, the Rani regained consciousness and, as her captors were saying nothing she could gain some edification from, she opened her eyes and glared at them. Three of them began to fidget nicely, so she narrowed her eyes at them for further intimidatory purposes.<p>

"And just what is the point of all of this, hmm?" The laser-intensive glare had three of the guards close to wetting themselves, and managed to prod the fourth enough to make him respond.

"You possess advanced technology. It is the Law that only the Dalrheve may possess such technology without punishment. Therefore you are a prisoner of the Dalrheve until such time as he tires of you."

The Rani rolled her eyes but chose to say nothing else. She would rather escape the clutches of the Black Guards and/or the Dalrheve's prison with as little interference as possible. And while boasting of what she was capable of would possibly keep her out of prison, it wouldn't free her from the Dalrheve any quicker than any other method. And she had a son to find, so she snorted at the guards and closed her eyes, feigning weakness while she worked on a method of escape.

* * *

><p>(Some distance away, in the recently abandoned alley)<p>

The Doctor frowned at the scuffled patch in the middle of the alley he and Harry had wound up in. No TARDIS, and nothing that could pass for a Stattenheimn remote, no matter what advances the Rani had made. There were, however, a few bits and bobs...and a sonic screwdriver. He frowned and dropped to one knee beside the odds and ends, holding tight to Harry so he didn't vanish or squirm free without plenty of warning.

Harry noticed the sonic screwdriver and put the Doctor's hold to the test, squirming around while calling out happily. ^Mama? Come out mama, it's me, I'm here!^

The fact that Harry was so happy at the thought of the Rani being close by seemed to indicate that she wasn't treating Harry as an obvious experiment. Which lead to the conclusion that she'd despise him forever and a century after if he let Harry get into trouble, plus the corollary that Harry would get himself into trouble if he was allowed to realise that the Rani wasn't there...which lead him to placing his hand on Harry's head, disguised as smoothing his hair.

"Forgive me one day, Harry." ^Sleep.^ His mind against Harry's was no real contest, and Harry fell asleep without even yawning. The Doctor sighed and shook his head, then freed a hand to scoop up the abandoned sonic screwdriver, as well as the bits and bobs, and shoved them in a pocket. Whether by coincidence or no, he was near his own TARDIS, which would be handy in more than one way. He'd be able to use the sensors to find the Rani, now that he knew she was about, he'd be able to keep Harry safe...and eventually he'd be able to return Harry to wherever he belonged. He knew Harry adored the Rani, but he just couldn't let whatever she was planning play out without interfering. Besides, a child needed his real family, not just a substitute mother. Especially not one like her.

* * *

><p>The Rani glowered at the four guards surrounding her, and mentally kicked herself. She'd lost her sonic screwdriver, several useful bits of technology, <em>and<em> she was restrained in a manner that kept her from reaching any remote other than Harry's. And his was isomorphically linked to him, so she couldn't use it to escape this bit of interference. She'd have to figure out some other way to be free, and she might possibly have to depend on the Dalrheve's attraction to off-world and advanced technology.

She managed to turn her back to the guards, then bit her lip. She hoped that Harry was safe, wherever he was. Even without his remote, by now he should be close to finding the TARDIS, and then he _would_ be safe. She just hoped he wasn't trying to find her, because he'd be jumping from frying pan to fire, as his fellow humans would say. Her thoughts were interrupted by one of the guards' gruff voice.

"Sit up, woman, and admire the Palace of the Dalrheve. Your home, until our Lord decides otherwise."

The Rani rolled her eyes but sat up, as she was relatively certain that they'd force her upright otherwise, which would interfere with any potential escape she might make. And as the vehicle entered the portcullis-and-force-field guarded tunnel beneath the wall, she found herself actually wishing, for a brief moment, that the Doctor was around. He'd have a plan already, from having been in this sort of situation so often. Since he wasn't about, she needed to learn how to think more like him if she was ever going to get loose and find Harry. Perhaps she could remove her restraints and get hold of her own remote once these idiots put her in a cell?

* * *

><p>It had been easy enough for the Doctor to find his TARDIS, and simplicity itself to secure Harry in the jumpseat. Finding the Rani was a lot harder, and reduced him more than once to begging the TARDIS to provide results. Finally, <em>finally<em> he got a secure reading, set coordinates, and set his TARDIS into a very brief flight.

The Rani had been roughed up a bit, but she didn't have to worry about being rid of restraints as once she was put in a cell the guards took them off for her. She waited until the guards were out of sight before checking her multitude of pockets...a task that was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a TARDIS materializing. It was simultaneously a hearts-lifting sound and one to make her wish to beat her head against the nearest wall. Think of the idiot and he would appear, it seemed.

She sighed and positioned herself opposite the door of the materializing TARDIS, and carefully manipulated her expression to be a bored and slightly impatient one. When the door opened and the Doctor looked out (he was skinnier, and with quite wild hair, but still the same idiot), she raised an eyebrow and asked with a slight smirk ^What kept you, idiot?^

The Doctor was a bit speechless with his mind running so fast, and used the moments bought by playing the fool to drink in the sight of the only other living Time Lord. She was still into boots, which brought her head around about his shoulder-height, and was apparently still into dark hair and eyes. At least she was out of the horrible spandex phase - she seemed to prefer loose clothes and a leather trench coat this regeneration. Finely-chiseled features rounded things up, and by the time she folded her arms he was prepared to both rescue and argue with her.

^Well, I did have to be made aware that you still existed, didn't I? Come on then, unless you really -want- to be the Dalrheve's guest.^

She snorted, but covered the distance between the wall and the Doctor's TARDIS rather quickly. ^Not particularly. If you would be so kind as to return me to my own TARDIS, I've a few things I need to do before I leave...^ She trailed off as she moved further up the ramp, barely noticing the interior as she caught sight of Harry.

The door closed behind her, and a brief buzz of the Doctor's screwdriver sent them into temporal orbit. He grabbed the Rani's arm and turned her to face him, his face as expressionless as he could make it. ^I can't let you keep him, you know I can't.^

She snarled and tried to pull away from him. ^He's _my son_, you can't keep me away from him!^

^He's _human_, Rani. I don't care what games you've been playing with him, but they end _now_. He belongs with his family.^ The Doctor wished he'd put Harry elsewhere - he could shout at his infuriating once-friend and occasional antagonist then. Instead, he managed to keep his voice low and intense, and tightened his grip. ^I know you've made him care for you, but he's young, he'll adjust to life without you.^

The Rani hit the Doctor several times with her free hand. ^You _cretin_! He's got no other family, no one but me! Come and see...if you dare, you idiot!^

The Doctor rubbed his face with his free hand, then raised it to cup the Rani's face. ^You invited me, remember that. Contact.^

She rolled her eyes, but opened her mind as she'd offered and let the Doctor in, first to sense what she had before she'd even met Harry. She let him see Harry's abandonment, let her taking him in be seen...and finally let the Doctor see Harry's claiming -her- as a mother-figure. As his hand finally fell away, she sniffed and muttered. ^You see, I could no more willingly let him go than his birth mother could.^

^I suppose not,^ he muttered, and let her go with reluctance. He'd never heard of anyone doing what Harry had done, but he saw for himself that he'd done so. Though he was still uneasy, he let the Rani loose and shoved his hands in his trouser pockets while she went to her...well, 'son' was as good a word as any. He still had trouble sensing her presence without contact though - something she had done was hiding her from him, and he already missed the feeling of another Time Lord's mind.

^He'll be all right, I had to put him to sleep to keep him from rushing off to find you." He stopped a foot or two away from them and eyed her, rocking his weight from heel to toe and back again. ^How did you survive, Rani? I thought I was the only one left.^

She ignored the Doctor until she'd confirmed that Harry was only sleeping, then turned to properly face him, and raised an eyebrow at the look on his face. ^Thank you for keeping Harry out of trouble, but I'm not quite certain what you mean, Doctor. I haven't really been hiding so very long...did you have a psi-null regeneration?^

He laughed, a short, pained chuckle, and shook his head. ^No. Don't you know how the Time War ended?^

She stood and looked at him uneasily. ^It's over? Truly? How...?^ Her jaw dropped in shock as her mind caught up to all the potential meanings of his questions and statements. ^You...you did something that ended everything, didn't you? Time Lords, Daleks...you destroyed them both!^

He looked away and his shoulders slumped. ^I had to...I was the only one who could.^

The Rani huffed and planted herself directly in front of him. ^Look at me, Doctor.^ She waited, impatiently, until he finally turned his head to look in her general direction again. She snorted and gripped his chin in one hand, then shook it lightly until he met her eyes again. ^What's done is done. You did what you felt you needed to, or had no choice but to do; just as I did what I felt I had to when I abandoned our people and hid away.^

He shook himself free and frowned at her. ^It isn't that easy, Rani. Like comparing apples and bananas.^ He raised a hand just before she opened her mouth to continue. ^We're different people, Rani...I can't be as pragmatic as you. Just...if you're not going to blame me for the deaths of all our people...then let it go.^

She raised an eyebrow and leaned her hip against his TARDIS console, watching him the entire time. When she felt he was finished, she shook her head. ^You _are_ an idiot, you know. But so long as you don't expect me to stay right with you, I suppose I can let it go. I might even stop hiding from you, so long as you swear not to interfere with my custody of Harry anymore.^

The Doctor managed a wan smile. ^You'll have to let him go eventually. He's got a historical nexus or ten to deal with. But since it means I'll not be alone anymore, I suppose I can manage to not meddle.^ The faint smile became a wry grin. ^Well, unless you do something meddle-worthy, that is.^

His only reply was a contemptuous snort as the Rani unbuckled her son and cradled him in her arms. Perhaps he was wrong about her - perhaps she really had softened some. He started darting about the console, arranging matters to return her and Harry to her TARDIS...and hopefully she'd remember to stop hiding.

* * *

><p>The Rani finally managed to stop thinking about their first meeting with the Doctor, and turned her attention to keeping her TARDIS stable as she sought out the only other TARDIS in existence. Harry was excitedly babbling about what he might be able to do with the Doctor, while turning dials and flipping switches as she told him to.<p>

One day she'd manage to get through to Harry that adventures were not something to be sought out, but until then she'd have to put up with all the trouble and bother that followed her son, with or without the idiot. Though if the Doctor ever, _ever_ again deliberately took Harry on an adventure, he might not live to regret it.

At last they landed, and the Rani wrapped her coat about herself before following Harry to the door. He bounced on his toes in impatience, waiting for her to open the door, then grinned and tried to dash out...but didn't squirm when she held him back.

"Just remember, if he's in trouble we're leaving. And remember to speak in English, you still need the practice!"

"Yes mum thanks mum love you mum!" Harry gave her a quick hug and dashed away the moment he was released The Rani sighed and leaned against her TARDIS when she heard the happy noises from the two trouble-magnets. "Yes...happy birthday, Harry. Enjoy it while the peaceful moment lasts."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything except the things I've gone and made on my own. Probably a good thing, as I don't think I could handle being a famous writer with grace and aplomb. Nor do I think I could do everything the BBC does, either. ;)

Author's Note: This chapter starts maybe two hours after the last ended. Contains a...discussion, a timeskip and...well, a quasi-scientific explanation of magic. Half-technobabble...which means it's up with any other episode of DW :D. And until I say otherwise, for the Doctor it's still between Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime. For anyone who hasn't seen those episodes, that means it's Tenth Doctor in a post-Martha pre-Donna timeframe.

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><p>Chapter Six: Color and Texture<p>

"I'm glad you finally forgave me, Rani."

"I _haven't_ forgiven you, idiot. It's simply that Harry is irresistible, and he wanted to see you on his birthday."

"Oh." The Doctor leaned on his TARDIS and watched Harry and Quaiz playing with the present he'd given the lad, making sure there wasn't any eavesdropping going on. "Well, I'm glad he missed me then."

"Rassilon alone knows why he missed you. After what you got him into the _last_ visit he made!" The Rani glared at the Doctor, who nervously readjusted his position. "You had no right to take him adventuring and you know it. And endangering him was even worse!"

The Doctor winced and tugged at his tie. "It wasn't intentional, the endangering. I just thought we were helping lost family find each other." He didn't think adding in that Harry had insisted on every bit of that whole mishap would be a good idea - not with how angry the Rani was, even months later. Well, months later for her - it was only a week or so ago for him.

She snorted and scowled at him. "_Really_. So, care to explain exactly _how_ that lead to guns being brandished around _my son_?"

He winced and looked away. "Er...because I didn't realise that the small army trying to take over Zhen Derasi were also group-parenting the kids we found?" He sighed and glanced up at her from his slump. "I'm sorry I had the bright idea of taking Harry to the fifth biggest amusement city in the universe. But I didn't know that there was going to be a mercenary army trying to make sure their kids got the city to themselves either! Sometimes things happen that are just out of my control, all right? But I did resolve everything, and no one got hurt - especially not Harry." He straightened up and frowned at her. "You could actually blame the mercenaries for having guns near Harry, you know and not me."

She folded her arms and looked down at her boots. "You got him into that situation." She'd meant to be snappy, but it came out more than a bit sulky. It burned to admit it, but he probably was right. And at least he wasn't trying to shift any of the blame to Harry, instead, taking it all on himself - just like Harry had, directly afterward. She sighed and shook her head, then glanced up at him. "But...I suppose I could spread the blame around."

"Brilliant!" He grinned and ambled closer to her, still keeping an eye on Harry. "You know, if anyone heard us they might think we were married with how much we fight."

She scoffed and unfolded her arms so she could dismissively flick her fingers at him. "Neither one of us could stand the other that way. We couldn't centuries ago, and we can't now. We're just too different."

"Weeell, maybe...if we both learned to compromise..." He looked at the scowl blooming on her face and backpedaled. "No. No, we're better off as sort-of friends, yeah."

She rolled her eyes at him and leaned back against her own TARDIS. "I know we are the last two Time Lords in existence, Doctor, but don't let that one lone fact warp your thinking towards a joining of any sort. I meant it when I said we were both too different. Plus, we argue too much, and that would be detrimental to Harry. Or any other children that might result before we started trying to kill each other."

"Yeaaaah. I suppose you're right."

"You _know_ I'm right, you mean."

"Suppose. Still, I am glad you didn't hide again. You had every right with how I accidentally endangered Harry."

"It wouldn't have done any good, since we're not living one-to-one. You'd have only been blocked...what, a week? Two? Whereas I'd have been blocking you for three months. Not worth it."

"No, probably not." He glanced at Harry again and grinned to see the kid having fun. He worried about Harry sometimes, living with the Rani. That the boy wouldn't know how to have fun when given the chance, but live a life of all work. That was one of the reasons he was so delighted to spend time with Harry - the other, and main, reason being that Harry was a delight to know. And smarter than most of his former companions already. At least _Harry_ understood the prime adventuring safety rule - Don't Wander Off.

Not like he'd mention it to the Rani. He was too thrilled that they'd been able to finally put one of her grudges to semi-rest. But there was something they did have to talk about. "Sooo...are you preparing to settle down and let Harry get a good base sensation of the time he's supposed to be living in?"

"Whyever should I?" She eyed him quizzically, eyebrows raised and everything.

"Because it'll be easier on Harry in the long run, when he has to leave you and start dealing with his nexuses. Besides, I thought you were the stay-put sort, not one to enjoy wandering like I do."

An eyeroll was something he was very familiar with seeing, especially from her. "I've become used to going places once a week. And I've mostly kept him in his proper time. He'll have a good enough understanding of his place in the world...but why do you care? And why the insistence that I should actually acquire property?"

"I don't..." He sighed in exasperation and ran a hand through his hair. "It's not easy to explain, you know. It's just a feeling."

The Rani sighed, but nodded. She understood feelings of that sort all too well. It was a similar inexplicable 'feeling' that lead her to Harry in the first place. "Then I suppose I'll have to see about property acquisition. Unless you've one in mind?"

"Did have," The Doctor smiled and shook his head. "Unfortunately I'd previously gone ahead and told the Brigadier to use it for UNIT if he needed, and that's what it's busy doing in that timeframe. Want some help trying to find a place?"

She stepped away from her TARDIS to keep Harry in view, and shrugged at the Doctor. "I suppose. You _are_ the one with superior contacts in the proper time zone."

"Good. Good." He ran his hands through his hair again, then smiled at her. "I suppose...if you didn't _mind_...I could even come 'round every so often and help you teach him?" He craned his neck to keep the top of Harry's head in view - the last thing he needed was for Harry to find an adventure while catching up with him. The Rani would _really _never forgive him for being a trouble-magnet, and they were still on tricky ground with that problem, so adding to it...he hid a wince at the thought and spared her a glance.

"_Maybe_. If you behave and don't bring trouble with you." She relaxed a bit when Harry moved back up the hill, chasing Quaix.

"Pretty sure I can do that." He turned to face her properly and waited till he could catch her eyes before continuing with a big smile. "Thank you, Rani. Really. Thanks."

She rolled her eyes yet again, though this occurrence was...well, fonder than the last. "Idiot. As if I could keep you and Harry separated for too long. Little bugger's too fond of you for words...well, he'll learn. Eventually." Or so she hoped - she didn't want Harry taking after the Doctor _too_ much - not only would it inflate the Doctor's ego to disturbing proportions, but it would put Harry in unnecessary danger.

She stood on tiptoes, but couldn't catch sight of Quaiz, or Harry's head anymore, so she started walking down the gentle slope of the hill. The Doctor ambled along beside her, hands in pockets. A moment of peace between the completely different Time Lords, brought about by an extraordinary child.

* * *

><p>Two and a half birthdays later, and Harry <em>sti<em>ll didn't like the changes that had started when his mum and the Doctor decided to work together. He was stuck in one place (mostly), living the slow path. That, more than anything, really, really sucked like a Hoover, especially since it meant he didn't get proper immersion in various time periods. Nooo, because he -had- to get his mum and the Doctor working together, now he had to learn history from _books_, like about half his other subjects.

At least his psycho-kinetic energy manipulations were fun and hands-on experiments, like his varied and assorted science lessons. It was a pity that his energy-manipulation ability wasn't easily quantifiable, but given that at least half the time it worked down at the subatomic level, with hadrons and leptons (and he thought the quarks too) - well, it was complicated if he stopped to think about it, and really really _weird_ that he could get the same effects (mostly) the same way every time.

According to Mum though, all psychic energies were at the quantum level, which he'd doubted until she'd had him hooked up with about fifty pads stuck to his head and in a room that could record the energies expended and what level they were working at.

About then the Doctor had visited them in their house he'd arranged, and he and his Mum had argued because the Doctor had set them up proper and married identities so no one could argue that Harry couldn't stay where he wanted. After they'd stopped arguing (without kissing or even _hugging_), the Doctor had stayed for a whole month to help out. He also agreed that Harry could call him 'Dad' in public, but only in public. One step forward, two steps back apparently. He'd get them together all the time eventually.

It was awesome having them both working together, cause the Doctor would give him loads of different ways he could try to do something, and later on Mum would explain the mechanics beneath doing it. She had to do that several times for the first couple of weeks, because he'd been way too excited to actually be_ doing_ stuff with the power of his mind to really pay attention. Which wound up with him spending a _lot_ of time meditating, so he didn't do weird and hard-to-fix stuff in his excitement.

Later, it got harder to actually _do_ things, because he had to think really hard about what he was trying to achieve and fix that image firmly in his mind, on as many levels as he could picture, not to mention the effort he had to expend. It was still mostly energy manipulated at the quantum level to create changes at the upper subatomic level though, especially changing things. Moving things wasn't, weirdly enough. Moving things was at the macro-level of molecules (except when he was using a decent electron microscope and could move atoms). Moving things was also brilliant fun, and pretty much the only thing he could do without supervision.

Changing things, which covered changing both physical and energy states, was definitely only performed with either Mum, or both Mum and the Doctordad. Mostly because if he changed one thing into another and _hadn't_ thought it through to get exactly what he wanted, things still tended to explode when they returned to their original state. Well, not changing _everything_ - if he changed a color, or the amount of light (via floating light globe, and wasn't that awesome!), things pretty much stayed the same, just returned to the original color or light level. (Though the light globe would vanish with a teeny 'pop', so he wasn't just making light, but what it was none of them had figured out yet.)

It was really the physical stuff that went 'boom' or 'squelch' or other disturbing noises, so he had to be careful. Really careful. Like...if he changed a yo-yo to a slinky, he had to not only hold the shape of the change in his head (round toy with a rope to coiled metal toy), but he had to work out the wood (or plastic) to metal change without getting distracted. Because although a magnesium slinky was awesome, it was too thin for the residual heat he was leaving behind at that stage. Burning slinky was still kind of awesome, but blindingly bright and he not only couldn't put it out but couldn't play with it or turn it back into a yo-yo.

He didn't even want to think about the time he got distracted thinking about food and somehow wound up turning one of the lab benches into a lamb. Sort of. Well, it turned out to still be the bench, it just looked and acted like a lamb. And it intrigued his mum enough so she didn't have a fit. Mostly. After a thorough examination, she'd insisted that he never, _ever_ eat anything that had been changed from something non-edible. Something about the likelihood of reversion, which would be really bad if bits of oh, say, a chair, reverted to being bits of a chair inside him.

Popping was another thing he wasn't generally allowed to do without supervision, although he was allowed to pop away if he was in trouble. And popping was pretty cool - it was sort of like opening a midget wormhole and diving in, with the bonus and drawback of having to know pretty much _where_ you were going...well, to an extent. He still remembered popping away from those Black Guards, but he'd only been thinking about getting away from them and hiding, nothing specific. So to him, that meant that he didn't have to be quite so specific as long as the urgency was there, and a sort-of destination like 'get away' or 'hide'. But the one time he'd suggested it to his mum, she'd about had a hearts-attack and then lectured him about due care and caution for half an hour, so he kept further thoughts along those lines to himself.

He wondered about others like him, and how come he never met anyone who could psychokinetically manipulate energy like he could. His mum had told him how she found him, so he knew there was a group that kept themselves separate...it was just that no one he knew had any idea _where_ they kept themselves. It was annoying, because he wanted to know what other people had discovered so he could see about doing it and finding out how it worked according to them.

Maybe they could go looking? He left the TARDIS lab and eventually the TARDIS, then went looking for his mum and the Doctordad. If they were in a good enough mood, maybe they would agree to go looking for more people like him.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: If I owned either Harry Potter or Doctor Who, I wouldn't need to worry about how I'm going to get home repairs done. (Dear God, please stop with the heat, I'm about to melt.)

Author's Note: The Magical World is Discovered. And yes, I deliberately left the Doctor and the Rani knowing nothing about the wizarding world until this chapter. Makes it a bit different from the other crossovers, y'see? :) Also, who wants to see whichever school representative arriving after the response to the Hogwarts letter get turned (briefly) into a tree? Likewise, who do you all think it should be? McGonagall, Hagrid (as in the books) or Dumbledore? Love to all of my readers and reviewers! (especially you reviewers!)

Chapter 7: Old Shades Return

The Rani hadn't quite known what to do with Harry's request to find more people like him, immediately. She -knew- that he'd leave her for those odd persons eventually, and didn't want to accelerate his departure by finding them sooner. He was her son, and she freely admitted she had issues when his safety was concerned. As well, there was that issue that Dumbledore and McGonagall had mentioned so long ago - the issue of Harry's fame for...well, she still wasn't quite sure what as that letter had provided next to no real information. But because of that, she didn't want Harry anywhere near anyone who could possibly be a danger until she understood everything.

So she left him in the (dubious) care of the Doctor for a time while she went off in search of readings similar to Harry's when he was moving or changing things. Her quest took her to London - Charing Cross Road, to be precise - and, by following someone with similar resting readings, she gained access to a most peculiar pub. The Leaky Cauldron, if the sign was to be believed, appeared as though it was built in the Middle Ages, or the Renaissance at the very latest, and yet it had the most sophisticated perception filter _not_ established by a Time Lord that she'd ever encountered.

She'd not even had to excuse her presence once inside - both the person she'd followed and the bartender had both presumed that she'd been trying to owl family and needed access to the post office. Whatever 'owl' meant, other than the generally nocturnal, silent-flying predator, she'd have to wait till later to seek an answer to. In the meantime, she thanked both for her access to Diagon Alley (a strange name - she would have to discern what it meant) and strode through the archway as though she'd done it before.

A few odd encounters later, she encountered someone willing to direct her to the local bank to have her pounds exchanged for 'galleons', whatever those were. It was intriguing that the bankers were not human at all, as well as presenting the appearance of warriors. Fierce non-humans to guard the supply of money - that was either the most intelligent move humans had ever made, or it would backfire on them most spectacularly, depending on how they (the goblins, as these beings were called) were treated. She managed to establish an account without too much trouble while she was there - a combination of pounds and a few jewels down in the bottom of one of her pockets managed a properly-sized deposit.

Oh yes, and the respect she'd show the goblins had been enormously helpful as well - she'd actually gotten an account manager who agreed to invest whatever she didn't spend that day for a fee of three percent of the profits. She'd intended to give the account manager five percent, but was talked down after a half-hour to the three that they were allowed by law. She'd scowled most horribly at that, but had given in, and privately decided to gift Snarehook with an extra two percent of the profit per annum. He was, after all, going to make her a reasonably wealthy woman in this odd little secluded world - he should by right have a profit return to show for his effort.

After the time spent at the bank, she'd made straight for the local bookstore and spent nearly the rest of the day tucked away within, learning so much about this strange hidden society. Mindful of her original goal, she bought the books she'd been reading for Harry, along with about a hundred or so others, covering history, culture, and the various branches that these persons seemed to divide their psychokinetic talent into. Not that they acknowledged what it really was - they called it _magic_. How silly and superstitious that was - they would do better to realise what the energy really was, and deal with it that way. Instead, it seemed that they had anticipated Clarke by several centuries (if not millennia). Only instead of what she was used to hearing - any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic - these isolated apes apparently had a corollary that stated the reverse. Any sufficiently advanced Magic is indistinguishable from science. There did appear to be developmental stagnation as opposed to their not-'magical' cousins, but that was simply an hypothesis that as yet had no real backing. She'd have to read those books she'd bought first, and perhaps come back for more before she could be sure of the stagnation hypothesis.

Just before she left the odd Diagon Alley, she noted that one of the stores was apparently 'Eeylops Owl Emporium', so she stepped inside to see just what these odd offshoots of the human race actually _did _to owls. Strangely enough, she wound up leaving with an oddly insistent snowy owl along with all the accoutrements these _wizards_ regarded as necessary to keeping an owl for mail delivery and so on. Owls apparently delivered the mail for these odd humans. So strange...but oddly personable. Still, it was a very strange development, especially as the owl was nearly comprehensible, just like her cats. She was looking forward to experimenting further with this oddness.

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><p>Hours later, she sighed and collapsed on the couch, feet instantly up on the ottoman. Harry had instantly taken a shine to the owl she'd come home with, going so far as to name her Hedwig, who, apparently, was some sort of patron saint of something or other. She'd expected Quaiz to be jealous of Hedwig, but they had somehow agreed to a truce almost without her knowing, and that was most intriguing as it indicated quite a lot about Hedwig's intelligence. The history books, though, were disturbing. That is, if one could actually -call- them history, and not a collation of theories. Four books she'd bought because they'd had Harry's name in them, and only one of them credited his mother at all for Harry's survival. The other three seemed to think that Harry alone had banished this so-called 'Dark Lord' - arrant nonsense, as he wasn't even <em>two<em> at the time! Still, once Harry'd finished those sections of those four books, he understood his apparent fame, even if he didn't like it.

As much as a relief as Harry's understanding of his unearned fame was, it was countered by the exuberance to which he'd greeted the introductory books she'd also bought. That exuberance was why she was collapsed on the couch and praying for Harry to just _go to bed_. And here she'd thought he could be tiring _before_ he'd known anything about the apparent subset of humanity he seemed to belong to. But that was like a light breeze compared to a gale-force wind, and all she could do was try to rest, relax and hope that the Doctor could keep up with her over-enthusiastic son.

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><p>Harry, meanwhile, was devouring the books his mum had bought, and was having a lot of fun with his DoctorDad trying everything out. Except Potions - his mum hadn't bought any ingredients to have fun making stuff with, so he'd have to wait until she was rested before he went and begged her to get an entire list of awesome-sounding ingredients, like eye of newt and tongue of frog and beetles and plant bits and salamander spleens and so on. But he was having loads of fun, even if he was puzzled that this hidden world he apparently belonged to separated magic so drastically. Honestly, there was moving and there was changing and that was all there really was.<p>

But these _wizards and witches_ insisted on dividing the changing into two subjects, one of which encompassed moving as well. Transfiguration dealt with all the obvious changes (though why he'd want to change a mouse into a snuffbox or a hedgehog into a pincushion was beyond him), and Charms dealt with moving thing as well as changing colors and other superficial aspects. It was so weird, but even the Doctor didn't know why they didn't just have Changing and Moving classes. He'd have to find out, if he ever got an invitation to the school.

And if his mum would let him go when he did, if he did. She'd become rather clingy for her ever since she'd come back from her trip with all those awesome books. She'd even lost her temper a little, which lead to his Doctordad having a quiet intense discussion with her that he couldn't hear, which was why she was off somewhere resting while he was having this initial exploration with his Doctordad instead of his mum. Which kinda sucked, just a little, but he'd take all the time he could with his Doctordad and be glad of him staying around for it even if he wasn't as precise about experiments.

Another thing neither of them could figure out was when he'd get any notice that he belonged in this strange society. Would it be in a few months? A few years? Half a lifetime? He rather hoped it wouldn't be the last - he was almost nine, and it would kill him to have to wait four and a half years more to find out exactly his place in the weird world hiding just behind the regular one he interacted with every day.

As he finally went to bed, with his mum recovered enough to tuck him in, he thought he'd never get to sleep with all this new information whirling about in his head, just waiting to be played with. But between Hedwig's soft noises and Quaiz's purring, he didn't even note what time it was when sleep opened beneath him like quicksand and sucked him down.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot and anything that isn't canon for either Harry Potter (JK Rowling) or Doctor Who (BBC). Also, the original Pixel, the Cat Who Walked Through Walls was created by Robert Heinlein, I just gave him a different origin. If you're weird enough to think I -do- own more than the plot and stuff of my own creation, I've got seven bridges I'd like to get off my hands.

Author's Note: In which the Rani is practical, and the Doctor has issues with ethical treatment of prisoners vs. the ultimate in safe imprisonment. And a timeskip. Also, the Doctor's timeline has now moved up to between Planet of the Ood and The Sontaran Strategem.

Thank you to all my readers and reviewers!

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><p>Chapter 8 - Foundations<p>

A few hours after a surprisingly well-made meal, Harry was off to bed, complete with feline and avian companions, and the Rani was sitting on the glider out back. It jostled slightly when the Doctor joined her, but she kept her eyes on the treeline and smirked a bit.

"You've got a new tree, I see," he said, very nearly neutrally, though a hint of anger could still be discerned. "I thought you'd given up on those tree-mines of yours.

"Mmm. It isn't my fault," She wasn't in the mood for a fight, not after that decadent dessert (which _nearly_ made up for being sent to nap like a child), so she attempted to explain in a way that wouldn't rile him. "And I never did give up on a perfectly-functional defense. I simply...modified it, with the help of Patraxas crystals, so that the mines would be triggered by intent rather than mere proximity."

"What?" He winced when she smacked him and hissed at him to keep his voice down, then rubbed his arm and frowned at the Rani. "You...you made your tree-mines intent-based?" He stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose you've scattered the mines all through the back for security?"

She smirked smugly at him. "Of course I have. I've even developed two levels of reaction. Trespassers that mean no harm get a dose of forgetfulness and a shove away from the house. Those who mean someone within the bounds harm become much more ecologically friendly." She leaned back and relaxed, toes lightly pushing at the flagstone of the patio.

Warily, the Doctor glanced sidelong at her and gave a light nudge that sent the glider into motion. "Rani...exactly how liberal is this definition of 'harm'?"

"Hmm?" She glanced at him, then shook her head and closed her eyes a moment. "Nothing you'd disapprove of. Anyone who means to injure or kill anyone resident here, or anyone who wants to abduct Harry is considered 'intending to harm'." She shrugged and opened her eyes again. "The month after you established us here, there was a veritable rash of intrusions...I've got a circle of laburnum further out that consisted of persons who wanted to torture and kill us. As well as some other trees."

"And you could tell this _how_? Did you turn them back and question them?" He really was grateful that one other Time Lord was still alive, and even being (mostly) well-behaved, but sometimes he just wanted to shout at the Rani and shake her and make her see why she just couldn't do things like that so callously. Even if she was only acting in actual self-defense this time.

"The Patraxas crystals, of course. They turn blue if they've dealt with an idiot, red if someone was intending to abduct, and black if the person or persons were intending to commit injury or death." If only the Doctor would be more _practical_ about issues such as these, instead of so incredibly moral, she'd find him much easier to be around.

"I should like to see that for myself. Especially as regards your latest tree."

"What, right now?" She turned to look at him, and he nodded. "Oh very well. Do you have a torch on you?"

"Yep," he said as he stood, then offered her a hand while he shuffled about in a pocket. "Always keep one on me...oh wait, that's the sonic." He dug about a bit more, then came up with a torch and clicked it on. "There we go! Now, lead on and let's see about your tree-security."

She swatted at his proffered hand, stood, and lead the way. Once they reached the new tree, she frowned at how close the person had gotten to the house and mumbled to herself. "...I'm going to have to start mining the patio, I think..." She then pointed to the triggered mine and the crystal atop it. "See? It's black, which means that this cretin," She paused and flicked one of the branches of the new yew tree. "meant to seriously damage or kill myself, Harry, or...possibly you, since you've been here almost a month this time."

The Doctor looked over the yew and watched it tremble in the still air, then eyed the mine the Rani had pointed out. He then found another for comparison and nodded. "Very clever. But you really should question them and arrange for their arrest."

She snorted and rolled her eyes at him. "Idiot. It's far too late for the laburnum circle and the juniper...and I believe it's too late for the elder, the witch hazel and the holly. Changing them back now would be just changing a tree into an approximation of a person with no mind and maybe a memory or two if they were lucky. _This_ particular cretin," she waved at the new yew to illustrate, "I could change back with no deleterous side effects for up to six months. But I fail to see the need. He or she came here to attempt pain or death, and I'm not curious enough to want to know which of us the attempt was against."

The Doctor heaved an exasperated sigh. "Rani, you can't play judge, jury and executioner-"

"Why not? You do it all the time," she interrupted, sharply. "Besides, it's my peace of mind and Harry's safety at stake, so I'd think you'd be pleased I wasn't killing them." She flicked the yew again and watched it cringe away. "I could, you know. It would be very easy to simply lay mines that...well, were mines. And then I'd have a well-mulched and fertilized backyard."

"Rani, enough. Now turn this idiot back into a human so we can find out his purpose."

"And when he tells you who he was going to kill, am I going to be allowed to turn him into a tree again? Or are you going to trust your pet humans in UNIT to deal with someone who can do what Harry can, and has likely had years to refine his talent?"

The Doctor stood there with his mouth open, trying to find an argument that would stop the Rani from being so casual about her prisoner. But she was right, to an extent - he couldn't hand someone with Harry's talent over to UNIT. Not even with all the experience they'd gotten while he'd been exiled on Earth and after - they'd be more vastly outgunned than they'd know how to expect. And it wasn't like they could call up the 'magical' police either; they had no method to do so, nor did they have any reason to trust that the prisoner wouldn't escape or be let loose on a technicality to come back and be made a tree again. Not to mention, what would the magical police do to the Rani for making someone into a tree without being 'magical' herself? And even if they were fine with the tree-thing...what about Harry? They'd probably try and take him from her, and while he ordinarily would pay to see that sort of confrontation, he'd just gotten her to calm down about Harry's future departure. So even if they could contact the 'magical' police, since they'd likely try to kidnap Harry, they weren't an option.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, tugging lightly at the end of the movement. "I don't _like_ it, Rani. There has to be another way of keeping prisoners safe that doesn't involve them losing what little remains of their humanity."

"None that I care to risk as they all have too great a chance of escape, and thusly a danger that they would return in greater force."

"Couldn't you put them in stasis or something? Do you have to leave them as trees to lose their minds?"

"Fitting punishment for trying to kill myself or my son. And even putting you at more risk than you get yourself into on your own is unacceptable." She wrinkled her nose at him and snorted. "Harry likes you too much to allow that." She waved at the yew, but didn't touch it. "Did you want to interrogate or no?"

"Only Harry likes me that much, hmm? I suppose you're just putting up with me because of him?" For an instant, one might have thought the Doctor was actually a bit hurt by that idea, but the next second, his mood shifted to a grim one, and he nodded. "Yes, I think I'd better."

"I've gotten used to you being about, idiot." She heaved an exasperated sigh, then dug in the pockets of her long coat until she came up with a hypospray. "Give me a moment, then you can quiz the cretin to your hearts' content."

The next few minutes were rather busy ones, not that the Rani would ever remember everything that occurred. The moment the yew became human again, the Doctor was flicked away with a wave of a stick, and before the Rani could do anything, the dark-garbed twit pointed that stick at her, shouted '_Crucio_', and pain was her world until it suddenly ended. In fact, the next clear moment of awareness after the pain stopped was being cradled in the Doctor's arms while he whispered "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

"...when I find out what that was, I'm going to turn that foul walking dungheap back into a tree, chop the tree down down and burn it." She made a noise that she would forever after refuse to admit was a whimper and rode out a round of muscle spasms in the Doctor's arms. "And do hush before a headache joins the rest of the pain I'm in. I ought to have had something to hand to deal with the future bonfire."

"Hush?" he asked, softly, the question tinged with guilt. "It's all my fault - if I'd not forced you to turn him back, you'd never have been hurt, and you want me to hush?" He gently stroked the hair back from her face and readjusted his hold. "I shouldn't have pushed you - not without more adequate security measures ready. You...he hurt you so badly...you were...I've never heard anyone scream like that before, not from just a word."

She swallowed and winced at the residual burn that proved that yes, she had been screaming, quite loudly. "It hurt quite a lot, as you can imagine. It was..." She paused and rode out a briefer round of muscle spasms, then stayed silent a moment or two longer, attempting to order her thoughts. "It was as though every nerve in my body was activated to carry signals of excruciating pain. I wasn't aware of anything else other than the pain." Although it hurt, she leaned her head back to look up at him. "So, what happened to end it? And where is the cretin?"

He shifted his hold again, to support her change of position, then shook his head. "Well, I went flying, you remember that?" When she made a noise to admit that yes she did remember, he continued. "Well, while he was...erm,"

"Distracted?" She smirked up at him. He was so amusing when he was sheepish - she almost wanted to draw the moment out longer. But she really did want to know what happened, so she settled back and attempted to control the next round of muscle spasms.

The Doctor boggled at the woman in his arms for a moment. Distracted? All that agony she went through (and was still suffering) and she called herself and her suffering a _distraction_? She was way too practical - he'd have to try and do something about that. But later - if he didn't finish summarizing, she'd be liable to hit him. Or something more vicious. He ignored her amused smile at the faces he'd been making with his reaction and continued. "Yes, well. While he was...distracted...I...well, I blindsided him into another mine. It was all I could think of to make sure he stopped."

"You pushed him into another mine. Why Doctor, how very...practical of you." She laughed, softly, at the face he made for that, then winced and curled a little tighter into his lap. "Well, since he's no longer a threat to worry about, I don't suppose you'd care to get me back to the glider and then go make sure all the noise didn't wake Harry?"

The Doctor scowled down at the Rani, annoyed with her for a number of reasons. But only one precluded his doing exactly what she asked, and since she would forcibly hold off regenerating to find out how Harry was, he couldn't very well insist she allow him to tend to her first just because she was in pain. Not without even more arguing and delays in treating her.

He stood, carefully, and carried her back to the glider where he was met by two distraught cats and one half-grown kit. Two and a half feline scoldings later, he was finally allowed to go inside and upstairs to check on Harry. Who had amazingly enough slept through all the screaming, though he attributed that to Quaiz and Hedwig, both of whom were awake and on edge. He murmured softy and reassuringly to them both, double-checked to make sure Harry really was properly asleep, then went back downstairs to argue the Rani into allowing herself to be properly tended to. And to reassure her that he wasn't going to say anything much anymore about what would happen to anyone who'd come with the intent to harm. Not after what she'd just been through - despite his original opinion, he'd come to the conclusion that anyone who became a tree while intending to harm Harry or the Rani could just stay a tree and be done with it.

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><p>The next two years passed in a relatively sane fashion. The Doctor had named Xeles' kit Pixel, then acted surprised when he started walking through walls, doors and other barriers. She had been rather surprised at that herself - she'd expected the offspring of a Gallifreyan cat and an Arcerateran teleporting cat to...well, teleport. Instead, it seemed as though Pixel eeled between the molecules of whatever barrier was in his way. Or at least she and Harry hypothesized the method - they never could catch Pixel in the act. The Doctor wasn't quite as concerned with the how as to the why - Pixel was very taken with the Doctor, and was attempting to claim him.<p>

As well, the Doctor had taken to traveling again, and picked up another human to travel with. Fortunately, Donna was usually more than tolerable, reasonably intelligent, and didn't put up with any of the Doctor's nonsense. Harry liked her too, and enlisted Donna's aid in convincing the Doctor to accept Pixel's adopting. They hadn't succeeded yet, but they were both amused by the Doctor's reactions. And Pixel's antics in attempting to claim the Doctor were just as amusing. He'd give in, it was only a matter of time.

It was interesting to talk to Donna, the Rani admitted, even if the woman would come up with difficult subjects to discuss. Not to mention, Donna had a way of making even her feel uncomfortable - this despite the woman's own lack of self-esteem. Somehow, Donna just knew what to say, when to say it, and wouldn't let anything stand in her way while she was determined to get her point across. Such as one uncomfortable discussion regarding how the Rani treated the Doctor.

"Look," Donna had said, about her third visit. "It's not that I object to you calling the Doctor an idiot - God knows I call him that myself. But...you don't ever see the look on his face when you tell him he's only wanted for Harry's sake."

The Rani had raised an eyebrow and stared at Donna for a solid minute, but when the woman didn't even twitch, she sighed. "The Doctor and I have a long and checkered history, Donna. And we aren't the sort that could be happy together for long periods of time, much less settle down and raise ten or twelve children." She'd snorted, then, and shaken her head. "And it's not like I haven't said I'd miss him if he never came back, I have."

"Yeah," Donna had drawled, "but apparently both he and I have missed it. Maybe, since he's such an oblivious prawn, you could try telling him outright that you'd miss him? Or even tell him to hurry back without mentioning Harry? It'd do both of us a world of good - he'd stop moping around for hours after we leave, and I could stop worrying about jollying him out of being a mopey git."

Telling the Doctor 'just because you're a stupid git doesn't mean I don't miss having you about, so come back soon or I shall have to stalk you and hurt you' _probably_ wasn't what Donna had meant, but according to a phone call made later, the idiot wasn't nearly such a mopey git after they'd left and was, actually, reasonably cheerful. So all was well on that front.

And the study front as well, so long as she could keep Harry focused on his studies, and not running experiments all the time with the things others had determined his abilities capable of. He was already at University level in all of his normal studies, and well past in some - maths and physics of varying categories being the main, though his chemistry and biology wasn't far behind. The Rani was rather strict during lessons, because the idiot wizards and witches didn't pay attention to the sciences at all, and she didn't want Harry to lag horribly far behind whenever he did finally go away. It would probably be this year, the year Harry turned eleven, and she wasn't going to let Harry get away with being an idiot just because wizards and witches were.

A different set of lessons that were harder for Harry to master and always had been, were the attempts to teach Harry what Time Lords were capable of doing. He had superior reflexes and stamina, but he never could step sideways or speed or slow his perceptions of Time without an enormous amount of emotional stress. He knew the disciplines, it was simply that his body was mostly human, while his mind was more than part Time Lord. She could have done something about that, but it would have lead to more problems than it would have solved, so she simply had to let it be and console Harry with the knowledge that he _could_ do it, it was just incredibly difficult.

Perceiving was easier, being one of the wholly mental disciplines, though he never did get even the details that she did, much less the Doctor when he was paying attention. At least Harry would know when something was going wrong, and he could use his studies of magical and non-magical history to try and determine exactly what the problem was. From there he could either fix it on his own, or call for help...if they could ever get a mobile to work in high-energy fields.

So really, other than practicing and continued study, all there was left to do that could be done was wait and see how these wizards collected their students. And celebrate Harry's eleventh birthday, hopefully celebrating first.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I still own nothing save the plot and my own creations. And yes, the bridge offer is still open for anyone who thinks I do. ;)

Author's Note: Hogwarts letter at last, and yes I know that in canon Harry started getting letters about a week before his birthday, but it just seemed to fit better for this story for him to get the letter on his birthday.

Ockham, in the Guildford district of Surrey, is a real village, reputed to be the birthplace of William of Ockham, proponent of Occam's Razor (information yoinked from Wikipedia). Living in the same village that William of Ockham did amuses both the Doctor and the Rani, and having them live in a different part of Surrey amuses me. However, to the best of my knowledge, Number 49 Bramble Lane, and indeed Bramble Lane itself, is completely imaginary.

The Crystal Palace was built to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, displaying the latest and greatest inventions of that time. (also yoinked from Wikipedia) It was a history trip for Harry, and no, I'm not going down memory lane for the Doctor and the Rani - if you're interested in that particular encounter, find a summary of The Mark of the Rani.

Letters are in italics, the Hogwarts letter being a direct quote from the book, except for Harry's address and his brief commentary. Also, after much thought I've decided no Hogwarts representatives will experience life from a briefly leafy perspective, no matter how angry the Rani is with them. (Fawkes would be furious with me)

This chapter was very difficult to write, but I've slogged through it and thus you all get the longest chapter yet. (I think it's all the dialogue ;) ) Love to my readers and reviewers!

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><p>Chapter Nine - A Letter From Idiots<p>

Since Harry was seven, his birthdays had always started out the same. Doctordad would show up and do what his newly christened 'Aunt' Donna called 'performance cooking', which basically meant he was showing off to entertain his hungry audience. It was always a banana, nut and chocolate flavoured breakfast, which was awesome because there was nothing better than banana-nut pancakes and chocolate-chip scones. Plenty of bacon too, but that was because Calonda, Xeles, Quaiz, Hedwig and Pixel all mooched bacon from their people. Which pretty much meant he and his mum only had to deal with feeding two friends, and his dad had to deal with a nuisance that was still stubbornly determined to claim him. And that meant that everyone finished eating before him, but that's what he got for denying a stubborn tomcat what he wanted.

After breakfast was usually a half-hour to digest, then plans for the day would get made. This wasn't a usual birthday though, Harry thought, as a strange owl showed up just after the trip discussion with a letter for him, and unfortunately annoyed Hedwig by encroaching too close to -her- person. Harry cautiously took the letter the owl was carrying, looked more closely at the envelope, and scowled.

"Mu-um, someone's stalking us. They've written my bedroom on this letter."

It wasn't his mum that responded though, it was Doctordad. "Just open the letter and let's see what it's about. We'll deal with figuring out how they got the information later."

He gave his mum another look, but she nodded in agreement, the look on her face implying she was keeping silent deliberately so's not to improve anyone's vocabulary of filthy words, especially his. Aunt Donna was going on about owls delivering mail and wondering if they were more on-time than the usual post, so he shrugged and opened the seal on the envelope.

"I'll just read it out for everyone then, all right?" He glanced at everyone there - Aunt Donna gave him a nod and a smile, focused on him again, Doctordad quirked a crooked grin at him, and his mum just rolled her eyes and her hand, suggesting he get on with it. "Right," He cleared his throat and scowled at the letter. "Because you don't seem to believe they're stalking me, here's the address too:

_Mr. H. Potter_

_East Bedroom by the Oak_

_Number 49 Bramble Lane_

_Ockham_

_Surrey_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore_, who's apparently too busy for his own good, according to his titles. _Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorceror, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards_.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall, _

_Deputy Headmistress._"

He finished reading, then scowled at the letter again. "Okay, first off, await my owl by today? I mean, yeah, I've got an owl, but what if I didn't? And why send me this letter today if they've got to have an answer today? And why such a short letter?" Harry paused his flow of questions, pointed at the owl who'd delivered the letter, and said "Stay put, you'll be leaving with a reply shortly."

He then laid the letter on the coffee table and ran upstairs, ignoring his mum shouting "No running in the house!" in favour of getting pen and paper as quickly as possible. Coming back down, he slid down the bannister with a grin and plopped back into his seat, Hedwig still glowering at the strange owl and Quaiz curling up around his neck and shoulders the moment he got settled.

Harry spent a few minutes writing, then passed the letter around for adult commentary. Yeah, he was at or past Uni level in most things, but he -was- only eleven, and it always helped to have an older eye on important things like letters, so's to give the right impression. It finally got back to him with a minor correction, and he swiftly wrote the final draft. Once it was rolled firmly, he gave it to the strange owl and said, "You take that straight to Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, and no lollygagging about. Got it?"

The owl hooted and flew out the open French doors, then Harry went to join his mum and Doctordad on the couch. "Rude people; not only are they stalking me, they can't even give anyone any information at all. Just like that letter you said I was abandoned with, mum. Not a single bit of real information, just the invitation and the supply list."

"No sense to them at all, you know. Wait till you see the bookstore and you'll have a sterling example. I think they'd faint if they ever encountered alphabetical filing by author...in fact, I'm surprised they've actually figured out organization by category." The Rani sighed and wrapped an arm around her son, while Donna snickered in the background about the lack of organizational skills endemic to wizards. "I am sorry you haven't seen their shopping district before, but you did agree to not go after all, just in case your disguise failed."

Harry nodded and leaned on his mum. "I know. I'd rather not have to deal with swarms of mindless fans because I'm famous for something my birth mother did and never got credit for at all, but I should be able to handle it better now that I'm older, rather than when I was younger." He flashed his family a cheeky grin, then faked a swoon. "Woe is me, my shopping trip will be ruined by mindless sheep." He rolled his eyes in a very Mum-like fashion, then gave his weird and wonderful family a crooked grin. "So, shall we get on with that visit to Blackpool? Or are we supposed to drop everything and hang about to prove we're more polite than they are?"

"Nah," smirked his aunt Donna. "I don't think they'd expect anyone to drop everything at the arrival of a random letter. And if they do...well, they need to learn better, don't they? Let's go have fun, kiddo."

His dad grinned at Donna, and the grin spread to his mum. "I told you I like Donna for lots of reasons. That's one right there."

"Yes yes, I like Donna too, especially because she's reasonably practical. I still don't see why Blackpool of all places, when we could pop back to the opening of the Crystal Palace."

"Because I want to go to Blackpool, mum?" Harry pulled out his biggest weapon - the puppy eyes - and added just a bit of a pout. "C'mon, it'll be fun! And then when I've used up all this excited birthday energy, we can go to the opening of the Crystal Palace and be properly respectful of historical inventions and stuff."

"I don't -do- fun, rascal." Still, she gave in to the irresistable combination, sighed, and ruffled his hair. "Go get changed, you've syrup on that shirt. We'll not be going till you're clean."

* * *

><p>While Harry and his eccentric and loving family were celebrating the day of his birth, the owl with his reply to the letter finally came to rest on the desk of the Deputy Headmistress. She offered the owl a bowl of water and a few treats, then took the letter from his leg to read.<p>

Shortly afterwards, lips so thin as to be invisible, the angry Scotswoman charged up the stairs to the Headmaster's office, letter cluched tightly in one hand. Inside, she was greeted as usual with a genial smile and an invitation to sit.

"Tea, Minerva?"

"No, I'll not be having any tea, Albus! Read that, and then explain it!" The furious woman tossed the now-crumpled letter on Albus' desk, then leaned back, arms crossed and scowling like a thundercloud.

The Headmaster raised a reproving eyebrow at his Deputy, then smoothed out the piece of paper and turned his attention to it.

_31 July, 1991_

_Number 49, Bramble Ln._

_Ockham_

_Surrey_

_Dear Deputy Headmistress McGonagall,_

_I have no intention of changing my current educational arrangements on the basis of such an incredibly short letter. A statement of acceptance, a list of supplies, beginning date of term and a ridiculously short reply time do not provide a good representation of your school. Also, I hope that this is not the letter sent out to all students, unless I happen to be a non-magically raised exception and your students are usually only drawn from magically steeped families. Children raised in non-magical households don't have owls to respond with, and I was very lucky that yours was capable of being convinced to remain until I had completed my reply. Also, it is incredibly disturbing that you or someone else in your school is stalking me to the point of knowing which bedroom is mine._

_Please reply with: an explanation of the stalking, an in-depth explanation of your curriculum, the reasons I should give up my perfectly challenging education already in progress in exchange for whatever your school teaches, and what arrangements will need to be made to continue in my non-magical studies. A reply in person is acceptable, as is a reply by letter._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

Albus Dumbledore managed to hide the thrill at finally having a location for Harry Potter, as well as the disappointment of not having thought to check before Minerva sent out the letters for this year, and turned his attention back to his Deputy. "I fail to see what has you so upset, Minerva. Surely you ought to have remembered to send the muggleborn letter to Mr. Potter, as he's been raised by muggles - he is simply responding to the lack of offered explanation."

Minerva curled her thin upper lip in a sneer. "I told you the Dursleys were the worst sort of Muggles - they couldn't even tell their own nephew about his past and his proper place!"

Albus sighed deeply, then gave Fawkes an appreciative glance when he began to sing a soft and soothing melody. He really ought to have told Minerva this long ago, but he'd not wanted to have her honing her Scots temper on him for years, especially not when the only way to find the boy was through the Book of Admissions when he was old enough to attend. Ah well. Best to tell her the truth now and hopefully let her get her temper out of her system before she added him to the muggleborn introductory trip.

"I am sorry Minerva, I really ought to have told you this years ago but I didn't want to worry you. It seems that someone absconded with Harry before Petunia could activate the blood wards. That same someone somehow managed to disable all of my tracking and monitoring spells, despite raising young Harry as a Muggle. However, as his reply shows, he has become quite the intelligent, thoughtful young man...I imagine Lily would have sent a similar letter should she have been sent the pureblood letter rather than the muggleborn one."

"Worry me!" Minerva stood and started pacing, hands in fists at her hips. "What you are telling me is that Harry Potter was kidnapped ten years ago - _ten years!_ Ten years during which you never said a word! I'm surprised you even thought he'd still be alive! Which makes what Lily would have done irrelevant, Albus!"

"Now Minerva, the Book of Admissions told me well enough he was alive - I've checked it every year. And I would have preferred to know where Harry was all this time, but as long as he was well cared-for, I didn't have the right to attempt to interfere, as Fawkes' multiple refusals to take me to Harry have proven again and again."

The irate Scotswoman glared at the phoenix, who responded only with a louder version of the melody he'd been singing since shortly after Minerva's arrival.

"I do look forward to discovering the person young Mr. Potter has become - as implied by his letter, he seems quite erudite. I wonder what sort of education he has been receiving thus far - his letter certainly is not typical of the standard eleven year old, be they muggleborn or pureblood."

Minerva made a strangled noise, and momentarially appeared as though she was planning on causing her superior and longtime friend to emit a similar noise via the application of her hands to his throat. "I...I...you...insufferable man! Is his education all you can think about?"

Albus smiled, eyes twinkling. "If one letter is an example, his upbringing has been all that I could have hoped when I left him on Petunia's doorstep that November evening. Admittedly, I would have been more reassured had young Harry been raised under the safety provided by the blood wards, but obviously he has been quite safe despite the lack of the ultimate security." He removed his glasses a moment, cleaned a smear off one lens, then put them back on, once more twinkling at his deputy and old friend. "I think it would be most interesting if we both visited young Harry tomorrow morning, perhaps around ten. You will clear your schedule to join me, won't you?"

"I can't, much as I want to. Iit is far too late to reschedule tomorrow's muggleborn orientation tour." The scowl that hadn't left meant she was still quite furious with Albus. "And no, I doubt I could add Mr. Potter and whomever has been raising him to tomorrow's group - not unless they have absolutely nothing else to do."

"Then we shall see tomorrow when they can schedule an introductory tour. And do cheer up, Minerva. At least he wasn't raised by...what was it you called Petunia and her family? Ah yes - 'the worst sort of Muggles imaginable', wasn't it?"

Minerva was still glaring at Albus, but she did appear to calm down a little. "I suppose _that_ part worked out well enough. We'll see in the future whether it's true."

* * *

><p>The next day was quieter, as befit a tired family after chasing an energetic child all over both Blackpool and the opening of the Crystal Palace, not to mention dealing with birthday presents and the sugar rush of Harry trying to eat half a cake by himself. Breakfast was a simple fry-up, and for a change, the Doctor was actually feeding Pixel instead of trying to keep his breakfast from the young tom. Harry grinned at the sight and winked at Donna. Pretty soon, the Doctor would have another companion aboard his TARDIS, to keep them company.<p>

Tentative plans had been made for a somewhat quieter outing to the shore for a simpler holiday, but those plans had to be dropped when a fireball appeared on the patio. Before anyone could do more than stand, the fireball resolved itself into an ancient, long-bearded man and a swan-sized red bird.

"Well, at least he isn't here to kidnap or hurt anyone," muttered the Rani, glowering at the old man she remembered seeing in the dark one night ten years ago (and just _itching_ to run some tests on that firebird). "and he does seem to have some microscopic modicum of manners, showing up on the patio." The Doctor should be proud of her, she thought. She wasn't attempting to activate other, more aggressive defenses, and she hadn't yet descended into a spitting fury even though that had been backlogged for a decade.

Donna and the Doctor both noticed the Rani's clenched fists, and silently decided that Donna should go out and invite the the man (and maybe the bird) in, rather than leaving it to a devious woman who was apparently furious with the oldster. So Donna hauled herself out of the comfy chair and opened the door. "Well? I'm assuming you are here for a purpose. So come on in and explain yourself."

Not perhaps the most gracious, but any mystery man that had the Rani so blatantly furious probably didn't deserve perfect manners. Donna stood by the door and waited till the old man entered, then closed it and circled around them to sit back in her comfy chair.

Once Donna had settled herself, the old gentleman cleared his throat and gave all present a genial smile. "Thank you for allowing us in. I am Albus Dumbledore-"

"And who's your friend then?" Donna asked, covering up the Rani's "oh, don't I know exactly who you are," with her bluster. "Or don't you think birds that can flash people about in fireballs deserve introductions?"

"Ah, yes. My apologies, usually people without magic don't understand familiars such as my friend Fawkes." Dumbledore put up a hand to stroke Fawkes, and only then realised his friend was staring intensely at the boy who could only be Harry. No, not at Harry, at the two adults bracketing him on the couch. He turned his full attention to them, to find the woman glaring at him as though she were trying to set him afire with the strength of her anger. The man, on the other hand, though watching him intensely, lacked the amount of anger shown by the woman...possibly his wife? "I'm sorry, I seem to have offended you somehow," Dumbledore said, speaking to the dark-haired woman. "Could I impose upon you to inform me as to how?"

The Rani snorted and shook free of the Doctor and Harry to stand perhaps two feet away from Dumbledore. "Oh, there are many ways you have offended me, Albus Dumbledore. And most of them begin with your callous abandonment of an infant on a _doorstep_ in _winter!_"

The nascent twinkle vanished, and Dumbledore frowned. "Perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere, with a bit more privacy."

That statement won a smirk from the Rani. "No, I think not. Or did you really believe I would keep my son in the dark? Harry knows in general who you are, and he certainly knows what you did that enabled us to gain custody of him. Now you can explain something that has been angering me for ten years - namely, just what in all the hells were you thinking of when you abandoned my Harry on a doorstep on such a cold night?"

Unfortunately, Harry didn't look one whit disturbed at the information he was hearing, and in fact was regarding himself and Fawkes with immense focus, just like the thus far silent man beside him, as though he were already a Legillimense at eleven and could read their minds, but was just waiting for them to speak for politeness' sake.

At that moment, the silent man spoke. "Now Rani, I know you're furious, but that's no reason to be rude." The man turned from the woman to Dumbledore and gave him a happy smile. "Hallo! I'm Doctor John Smith, the lovely lady so furious with you is my wife Doctor Veronica Smith, and the other lovely lady who let you in is my sister Donna." The Doctor paused, to let Dumbledore have a moment to catch up, then continued. "Why don't you sit down and we can have a nice explanation of why you thought it proper to abandon a baby on a doorstep in the middle of winter. Then we can get on with the questions in Harry's letter."

Fawkes perched on the back of the chintz chair Dumbledore conjured and started to sing softly. Albus himself was surprised at the lack of surprise shown by the four people facing him, but only kept silent a minute to see if they would have questions about the magic that he could distract them with. With silence reigning, he sighed and nodded. "Quite right, and indeed I should explain. It was, in part, a security measure to keep persons of ill-intent from finding Harry, and, regretfully, in part it was to ensure Petunia Dursley gave more thought to taking Harry into her home and family. I do assure you that there were warming charms on the blankets to keep Harry comfortable all night, and a ward placed to keep stray animals away. There was also the foundation of a blood-ward, that would have kept Harry safe from people intending him harm using the love of his last remaining blood kin."

"You mean I'm related to those hideous people? Ewwwww." Harry said, then gave over to a full-body shiver.

"We'll deal with the sort of people the Dursleys are in a minute, Harry. As for you," she said, rounding on Dumbledore again. "You neglected anything to keep people away, or would my being there the entire time have negated that for me?" The Rani scowled half-heartedly at Fawkes for singing so soothingly, then continued. "That was a haphazard operation from beginning to end, especially allowing that overly-large man to bring Harry by motorcycle." She ignored the Doctor attempting to get her to sit back down, and glared at Dumbledore. "I'm going to hypothesize that this blood-ward you speak of would only have become detectable if Harry had actually entered the house?"

Albus found it within himself to wish that Fawkes would sing just a bit louder - Mrs Smith was quite irate still. But as she identified Harry as her son, he supposed she did have the right to be cross with him, just as Minerva had. "I had actually expected Hagrid to arrive in another way, but it is fortunate he met up with Sirius Black and got that motorcycle _and _Harry away from the man who betrayed his parents to their deaths." Harry didn't need to know more than that - he didn't need the added burden of knowing that his own godfather was the reason he was an orphan. "As to your questions about the wards, yes, your being there the entire time would have negated - for you - the wards that would keep non-residents of the Dursley residence away until Harry had been taken in. As to the blood-wards, I am unsure as to the means you would have detected them, and thus cannot say whether the foundations would have been detectable or not. Now, if I might, could I ask just why you were there, Mrs Smith?"

"You wouldn't understand the science behind what led me there. Suffice to say, I've been - among other things - working on a means to detect anomalies of various sorts, and my work led me there. It also lead me to Diagon Alley a few years ago. Quaint place, but interesting." And that was a neat distraction that would keep her from having to explain being a Time Lord who could sense that the future would go completely awry if Harry had been left with those disgusting examples of humanity. She finally sat back down and continued. "I watched, I waited - I dearly wish your Professor McGonagall would have come today so I could discern how she had become a cat that night. And then when I was sure no one would come back, I took Harry away. The legalities came later, of course, but Harry has been my son since that night."

"Ah. Well, Minerva is what we call an animagus - she can shift her shape to that of the cat you saw. Unfortunately she had other appointments today, though she did mention her regret that Harry hadn't been sent the version of the letter for the muggleborn and muggle raised." He raised a hand to forestall interruptions and continued. "Muggle is a commonly used word in our little society that refers to the greater populace we share this planet with. It means a person without magic. These people can't see most magical creatures, and generally cannot enter places like Diagon Alley without assistance. Which does beg the question of how you entered, Mrs Smith."

The Rani rolled her eyes and rued the day she'd ever agreed to the Doctor's plan of a paper marriage to make formally adopting Harry easier - she was getting very tired of being called 'Mrs Smith'. "I followed a wizard in, and the bartender opened the passage for me. It was really quite simple. As was the exchange of money and purchasing several newspapers and history books, and a very insistant owl who claimed Harry the moment I returned home." She frowned and continued. "I am not best pleased with the unearned fame accrued to Harry, thus I have not yet taken him there. Now, you mentioned a letter for the muggleborn - did you happen to bring a copy, or did you rather come prepared to answer Harry's questions?"

"Both, actually, although a goodly portion of the muggleborn letter is spent in explaining that magic exists at all, and the families usually require proof, generally provided by a follow-up visit from members of the staff. Here," He reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out a letter to hand to Harry, but didn't object when Mrs Smith intercepted it first. As she was reading it, Dumbledore turned his attention to Harry. "If I might ask you a question first before I move on to answering yours, Harry?"

"Well, you already asked a question, but yes, I can answer another one before you answer mine." Harry grinned and scooted forward on the couch, hands on his knees and intense green gaze fixed firmly on the old man.

Albus chuckled at that and nodded. "My thanks. Earlier, when I mentioned Petunia Dursley being your mother's sister, you expressed great displeasure at being related to her and her family. How did you encounter them, and what happened to cause such displeasure?"

Harry scowled, looking remarkably like both his mums, and shook his head. "We were on a historical sites tour, and at one of the places Dudley Dursley decided to pick on kids less than a third his size to make them give him any money they had on them. He's huge, by the way - looks like he's trying to be as round as he is tall. Anyway, I told him to leave the other kids alone and go bother someone his size, or I'd call security. I turned away, he pushed me down the stairs, and his parents started in saying all sorts of nasty things like I was going to be punished for making their precious son push me. Mum ripped into them and told them about themselves, then Mrs Dursley saw me properly when I got up and screamed 'Freak' at me, and dad and aunt Donna had to keep mum from assaulting her, and then security made all of us leave. At least he told the Dursleys to never come back, and not us, so that was a win." His mum handed him the letter, but he finished his small speech first. "So yeah, I'm disgusted at being related to any of them, and I'm veryveryvery glad my mum found me and made me her son, cause I'd either be as big a bully as that Dudley, or I'd be his favourite bullying target if I'd been raised by _them_."

"I see," Dumbledore said and frowned, steepling his fingers under his chin. "I am sorry for that, Harry. And I will not ask of you to have any further contact with them, seeing as how you have been quite safe without the blood wards." He sighed and shook his head sadly. "Petunia was always very jealous of your mother Lily over the magic, but I had hoped she would have given over the hostility. It seems I made a dreadful mistake that was only rectified by the happy chance of your mother and her anomaly tracking."

* * *

><p>Since the Rani wasn't going to assault Dumbledore anytime soon, Donna got up and went to put the kettle on. When she got back with tea, Harry and that old man were deep into a discussion of the school, the courses, the nature of magic and just why wizards and witches needed wands. It was over her head, but as fascinating as listening to the Doctor when he was actually explaining things properly, so she poured out and sat to listen.<p>

Dumbledore then got a surprise when Harry turned the Doctor's yo-yo into a proper steel slinky, along with some ribbing from his dad about the time he'd made one from magnesium, then they both explained how it had burnt from the high heat residual left behind from the transfiguration. Which segued into a discussion of wanded versus wandless magic and how the wand channeled the magic more efficiently without side-effects like the residual heat, but that wandless could be used to surprise an opponent, and that Harry should keep up the practice as long as he could keep it hidden.

"For you see, Harry," Dumbledore said, pausing to finish off his tea, his eyes twinkling like stars. "not one wizard in a hundred can master even the slightest of wandless magics, and lose all accidental magic which is it's base by their second or third year of school. Not one in a thousand can perform such a transfiguration, and even they would find it easier if the starting material was the same as the finishing."

"Yes, but plastic slinkies are no fun," Harry mumbled, most of his concentration of the moment focused on returning the slinky to a yo-yo so he could give it back to his dad. Done, he gave the Headmaster a crooked smile. "But I do see what you're saying - keep it hidden so people don't attack me out of jealousy." Then, with the innocent guile of a child, he asked. "Can you do anything wandlessly, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"A fair few things, my boy, a fair few. But mostly just parlor tricks," he said, and with a wink and a gesture of his hand, the used tea things stacked themselves neatly on the tray.

"Blimey, that'd come in handy for the washing up," the Doctor grinned, as pleased as Harry was at the sight. "And other things too, I'd imagine."

"Mmm, quite so, quite so." Albus pulled his watch from another pocket and glanced at the many hands. "Now, if you've quite decided on your attendance, we could nip over to Diagon and join Professor McGonagall for her muggleborn orientation trip. Unless you've plans already that I interrupted?"

Harry glanced at his parents and got an understanding nod from his dad, a raised eyebrow and a nod from his mum. He then looked back at Dumbledore and nodded. "I'll be attending." He then grinned impishly and continued. "If only so I can learn enough to set the world on it's ear."

The Doctor spoke up then, already on his feet and bouncing just a bit. "Well, now that's all decided, how were you going to get us to Diagon Alley in thirty minutes or less?"

"If my friend Fawkes is willing, he'll be taking us." A chirp from Fawkes answered, and he flew from the chintz armchair to Dumbledore's shoulder, then fanned his tail. "Fawkes is a phoenix. When they die, they burn and are reborn from their ashes, they can carry immensely heavy loads, and their tears have healing properties beyond that of most potions. However, it is another ability of theirs that we are going to be taking advantage of - I believe you witnessed it on my arrival, and now you'll get to experience it. If you'll all gather round and lightly grasp a feather, we'll be off."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own Nossing! I make Nossing! (Except the usual stuff and an apology to Sgt. Schultz of Hogans Heroes)

Author's Notes: Life happened, and then other stories insisted on getting started while this chapter just sat there as a blank document mocking me until I finally figured out how to get it started, and then it wouldn't stop and had to be split into two because Harry babbles. A lot. =) So my readers, you get two chapters at once again, and they're loads longer. :) And some other stories once I've got them in shape for posting.

Highlands School isn't mine, I read about it in another fic several months ago, how it's used as a cover school for the muggleborn and a way-station for regular post from muggle parents. Don't remember the fic or the author though, nor if said author arranged correspondence courses for the muggleborn, so if one of you happens to know, let me know so I can properly credit it. :) Last item of note - Bessie was the Third Doctor's heavily modified yellow Edwardian Roadster, and since my google-fu failed as to her current status, she's been the car this madcap family's been using all this time for trips that would annoy TARDISes.

Love to all my reviewers and readers, and I'm sorry, so, so sorry for your wait.

(edited Sept 21, 2011 because -something- ate the letter separators. So have some line breaks instead.)

* * *

><p>Chapter Ten: A Few More Skeins<p>

_5 August, 1991, _

_Hi Dean! It's Harry, and I hope the way this letter arrived didn't bug your family too much. Wizards use owls for mail as we found out on the first on that trip - my gorgeous girl is Hedwig, by the way - so I sent the letter by her instead of regular post. Plus, it gets your family used to seeing owls with mail so it's all good, yeah? _

_Anyway, I was writing to (among other things) ask when are you going to be at Kings Cross for the train? I thought it would be cool if we could meet up and bag a compartment together for the ride to Hogwarts - Hermione too, if she's interested and you don't mind. Not that we can't meet up before that - I think that would be brilliant if you're interested. I just wanted to know so we could plan ahead for snacks, lunch and so on._

_Oh yeah, I've got everything we need together already so we can organize some footy games when we get to school, though a spare ball never hurts if you want to bring yours too. I even fit in a pair of nets for goals, but the poles were too bulky and heavy, so we'll either have to use cones or get a professor or older student to magic us up some. And yes, I really am a West Ham fan, even though I live in Surrey - it's my Aunt Donna's favourite team, and she's contagious that way. So we'll both have posters to go up on the walls, if they let us hang them._

_I still have no idea whether Hogwarts has actual art classes, though probably not till we get older and get to electives. Don't forget to arrange with Highlands School for correspondence classes if you want to keep up with normal education as well as magical...and maybe they have correspondence art classes? Can't hurt to ask, right?_

_Bother, I'm babbling. Sorry, tend to do that when I'm excited. Or nervous. Or...well, most of the time, just not in my sleep. Anyway, write back soon - Hedwig will drop by and pick up your reply (I'm writing Hermione too or she'd probably stay put and wait for you). _

_Your friend,_

_Harry._

_P.S. - Hedwig loves bacon (and pretty much any other meat), so if you've got any spare she'd appreciate it. Otherwise just let her get a good drink of water and send her on to Hermione's_

_P.P.S - Let me know what time she got there, and what day - we're timing owl post to see if it beats out the regular sort. She left at 6 AM, if you're curious, and yes I usually am up that early. And when you write back, include approximately when she leaves if you can? _

* * *

><p><em>5 August, 1991<em>

_Dear Hermione,_

_See, I told you I'd write. I bet you have half the books read already, yeah? Fascinating, isn't it? I'm still peeved that wizards and witches don't bother trying to understand the underlying source for magic...I'm also still a bit annoyed that it's called 'magic' in the first place when I've been used to understanding it as psychokinetic manipulation of ambient energies, but like they say - When in Rome, do as the Romans do._

_Anyway, I hope your parents didn't get upset when Hedwig showed up, but along with wanting to write you, I thought it would be good for them to get used to an owl showing up with post. She likes bacon a lot, but she'll accept anything meaty if it's on hand. Otherwise a bowl of water and being allowed to hunt will do for her. I mentioned that because I asked her to wait for your reply, so take care of my feathered girl ok?_

_If you can (and you want to), it'd be nice to meet up before we go to Hogwarts. Otherwise, let me know when you'll be at Kings Cross and we can co-ordinate bagging a compartment with Dean. And it helps to be able to plan ahead for snacks and stuff...and yes I __**do**__ realise that school starts in twenty-six days, but I like to plan ahead._

_Don't forget to contact Highlands School for correspondence courses so you can keep up with normal education too. Unless you don't want to, in which case ignore me. I'm about to really start rambling (you have no idea how hard it was to stop writing about magic), so I'll close out the letter and let Hedwig get on with delivery to you and Dean._

_Your friend,_

_Harry_

_P.S I'm so thrilled at being able to write those two words. Also, I sent Hedwig off at 6 AM, so could you let me know the day and time when she got to your house? Data will be a bit sloppy cause she had to stop at Dean's first, but we're timing owl post to see whether it's faster than regular post. And if you could, write down the time when she leaves you to take my reply? Thanks lots!_

* * *

><p><em>5 August, 1991<em>

_Dear Harry,_

_You'd best explain straightaway how and why you call magic 'psychokinetic manipulation of ambient energies'! You can't just drop that line and __**not **__expect it to drive me mad from curiosity! Honestly! (Erm, sorry for the ranting, you just made me so curious and not knowing something makes me worse, especially when I can't find the answer in a book.)_

_On another subject, I know exactly what you mean about having a chance to write those words - I've never had any friends before I met you. Dean was friendly too, when we met in Diagon Alley, so I'll have to see if he's interested in corresponding. Or talking on the phone. Anyway, I haven't read but three of the course books yet - I was also reading 'Modern Magical History', 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts', and 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century'. You did know you're in all three of those, didn't you? I don't quite understand everything they were talking about, and I'd like to hear it from the source...if you don't mind talking about it. If you do, try and forget I ever asked?_

_Mum and Dad said you're like me for planning ahead, and they suggested 10 AM to meet at Kings Cross if that's all right? They'd like to have more time to talk to other parents who didn't know about magic beforehand, so if you could ask yours and see if that's fine? Or they could talk another day. I think they just want company so they don't try and keep me off the train at the last minute - we're going to be gone ever so long and only back on the hols, and they're going to miss me very much. I'm going to miss them too - this will be the first time I've ever been away from them longer than work and school. Oh, and if we get the chance to meet up, it'll have to either be before the 10th or after the 24th - we're leaving on holiday to France and won't be back till then._

_We've already contacted Highlands, and I'm enrolled in their correspondence courses - I still can't believe that wizards and witches don't get or usually want a fully rounded education! Honestly, how can they expect to really function in the world when they only know their small little bit of it? Speaking of, are you going to take correspondence classes too, or have your parents already arranged something else? They're both brilliant, and so are you and you may be past what they offer, which is why I'm asking. _

_Hedwig got here at 1:30 PM, and we offered her food before I went up to write this letter. She likes ham, and Mum's probably stuffing her full as I write - she says Hedwig's gorgeous, which I agree with, and you're a very lucky boy to have her. Which I also agree with, but I want to wait a while before I pick out an owl. Or maybe a cat - I like cats. _

_I'll close this letter by saying she'll be leaving directly at 4:05 PM (or thereabouts, not later than 4:10 PM - we want her to have a bit of a rest first) and I want to hear the results of the speed test. You know you should send a letter by regular post too, for a full and proper experiment...oh wait, of course you do. Your parents would have made sure you know how to run a proper experiment, especially your mum. And I'm sending my number too, so we can talk. If you want to, I mean. Oh, I enclosed my address too, so you know how to address the letter for regular post._

_Hope to hear from you soon! _

_Your friend, _

_Hermione_

_PS - I'm sorry for the blotches, I'm writing you with a quill to get in practice before we get to school. Honestly, couldn't they at least use fountain pens? Even the kind that draw the ink up into the barrel of the pen would be less messy than constantly dipping a feather in an inkwell!_

* * *

><p><em>6 August, 1991<em>

_Hey Harry, it's Dean. Well, to start with, Hedwig got here at 10 AM yesterday and left at 10:30. We didn't have any meat, so she just drank water and let my little sister coo and fuss over her before she left for Hermione's. (She's lucky she escaped without bows - Hedwig I mean) She got back around 7:30 PM, gave me a letter from Hermione (and boy can that girl write!), ate a bit of roast, drank some water and settled down for the night on one of the kitchen chairs, which is why this letter is dated tomorrow instead of today. Mum was interested in the speed test, and said if you're also going to write by regular post too, that we should trade phone numbers so the check-back time is faster._

_Mum says 10 AM for meeting up at Kings Cross, unless that doesn't work for your family. She doesn't have anywhere she's got to be that day though, so if you're late we'll still be there. Unless you get there past 11, in which case we'll be gone and you'll have missed the train. She thinks Hermione's parents had a good idea (it was her parents that said 10 AM first), and she thinks it would be nice to build a sort of support group for our parents so they can gripe about missing us with people who understand. (Well, she didn't say gripe, but that's what she meant.)_

_That's awesome that you've managed to pack all the needful for pick-up games - even nets! I barely managed to fit my ball in with everything else we have to take, and I had to deflate it to do it. How'd you manage, mate? Inquiring minds want to know! And your Aunt Donna is a woman of taste and brilliance - West Ham! Speaking of, if you want to meet up and kick a ball around for a bit, that'd be wicked cool! Write (or call, since I'm enclosing our number, and address for the regular-post-test) and let me know if or when!_

_I'm pretty sure Hogwarts doesn't have art classes, but Highlands does indeed have correspondence classes for art. Well, at least for sketching and charcoals and watercolors they do - oil and acrylic painting, pottery and most other crafty parts of 'arts and crafts' they can't because those require more hands-on instruction, or there're problems with transport of the finished pieces. Or both. I'd really rather take classes directly, but given the choice between art correspondence classes and having to spend most of my summers away from my family all day for summer courses I'll take the mail any day. And yes, to answer both you and Hermione, I am signing up for regular courses too. Couldn't pass up the opportunity, 'specially because it's all covered under Hogwarts tuition costs. Got that from Hermione, by the way. _

_Since I'm mentioning her a lot, Hermione writes loads but she's really informative with it all. Which is really useful for answering questions (which she also writes and asks loads of), but do you think we could work on her and get her to be less of an answer-girl and more of a fun girl? Because seriously, I don't think she has anything for fun other than books, and all books and no play make for really huge chunks of information. And she babbles as bad as you do, too - she sent her number in her letter to me, and should have sent it to you too, so you can find out first hand as you babble at each other. At least you know how to have fun too...__I worry about that girl, just a bit.__ We'll have to introduce her to a good game of footy when we get there._

_Anyway, closing out now so Hedwig doesn't have trouble carrying both letters back...huh. Wonder what her maximum load is, anyway? I don't want to stress her any, she's too cool for words._

_Your friend, _

_Dean_

_P.S. - She'll be leaving at 9 AM, so call and let me know when she gets there and if she's okay. Between me and Hermione, I really am kind of worried. I know letters don't weigh much, but I'm still new to the whole post-owl concept and she's too gorgeous and cool to get hurt just because we happened to write lots._

* * *

><p>"Thomas residence, Dean speaking."<p>

"Hey Dean, it's Harry. Thought I'd call and let you know that Hedwig got back just fine. Buuut she's probably going to give you a mild scolding when she sees you again...I kinda had to tell her you were worried that two letters were too much and she was juuuust a bit offended. She's very proud, as well as a gorgeous girl."

"Um, oops? But seriously, I've never had to think about the weight bearing load of a snowy owl before. Can't you explain that I wasn't worried that she could do it, I was worried about her being okay? And how come you had to tell her I was worried?"

"I'll do my best, but so you don't worry anymore, snowy owls in general can and do take down large hares and take them to safe places to eat, not to mention they can take down medium sized geese, so as long as we don't give her more than fifteen pounds she'll be fine. She might be able to carry more, being a magical post owl and everything...I'll ask at Eeylops. And I had to tell her because she was on my shoulder when I was reading your letter, and I swear she's smart enough from being a post owl to read."

Dean snickered, amused at the image. "She probably got that from you, genius and impromptu lecturer. But that's good to know, just in case any of our parents decide to send boxes of biscuits or something."

"You think intelligence is contagious? I just thought she was naturally smart. And I hope they do. I'm really going to miss home cooking. Especially chocolate cakes and treacle tart, but pretty much all of it." Harry sighed, almost simultaneously with Dean.

"Me too. Now before we talk ourselves out of leaving our parents after all, how did you fit everything but poles in your trunk? And what did you think about Hermione? I mean, I'd thought Diagon Alley was an exception because, you know, magic and all that, but she asks questions _all the time_."

"Oh. Well, so I could keep up with my studies, my parents got me a two-compartment trunk, with the second one being three rooms. Except that if I put anything in there as opposed to them doing furnishings and stuff, I had to be able to carry it back out. Hence, no poles cause they're awkward and too heavy." Harry let out a puff of air and sat on the couch. "Yeaah, I noticed that about her. I think it's because we're seriously her first two friends in, well, _ever_, really, and that's the only way she knows how to act. Of course, that's only a well-supported hypothesis on it's way to a theory, and we can't really ask because it's a painful topic if you've never had friends. I know, kind of...never had anyone I could really call friends either till I met you two. I mean, the kids here in Ockham are okay, but what with magic and me being homeschooled...well, we never really had anything to talk about except footy and so on. And that's just not real friendship."

"Huh. Okay, so I'm the normal kid with two isolated smart ones to teach friendship to. Should be fun!" There was the faint sound of a woman calling, and Dean moved the phone to call back 'just a minute!'

"Oi! I'll have you know I'm a perfectly normal genius!"

"Ah, but as you might say, I don't have a big enough sample of genius eleven year olds to tell. And I'd love to talk more, but I've got to go eat lunch and take my little sister to the park. I'll ask about us getting together next weekend, and call to let you know."

"Sure, no problem. Meantime I'll go correlate owl-post data and get a couple letters ready for post tomorrow, even though owl post is definitely faster. So...um...bye for now."

"Bye Harry, I'll call tomorrow."

* * *

><p>"Having fun talking with your friend, Harry?" The Doctor smiled and sat next to Harry. "I'm glad you're finally making some close ones. Or at least one?"<p>

"Yeah, Dean's fun. He's not as intellectual as I am, but he's neat. And a budding artist and a West Ham fan too, so we'll have sports as well as magic in common anyway, and I can admire his art. And he's not letting his normal education slack off, so I'll be able to help him with that, if he wants. And Hermione's got an inquisitive mind like me, so I've got a well-rounded pair of friends." He leaned into his dad and sighed. "We're going to have to teach her how to have fun though - and I don't mean recreational maths!"

"Aww, but recreational maths are fun! And you can make puzzles and passwords out of them too. Happy primes are a good one..." He trailed off, staring into the distance at a memory, then shook himself a bit and ruffled Harry's hair. "I think you're trying to say that Hermione doesn't know how to have fun outside of a library or museum though."

Harry tried and failed to duck the ruffling, and made a face at his dad. "Well, sort of. But she's leaving on a trip to France on the tenth, and won't be back untill the twenty-fourth so maybe she actually goes to beaches and the like too. And normal people take lots more time to prepare for trips than we do, so I don't really feel right bothering her about recreational habits until she gets back."

"You'll have plenty of time to talk to her about that. No rush." The Doctor sighed with unexpected melancholy as he abruptly realised that he was going to miss having Harry in an easily found and visited place as much as the Rani would miss his daily presence.

Harry wriggled around on the couch until he could get to his knees and look his Doctordad in the face. "What's wrong? You sounded so sad just then."

"Oh Harry," he sighed again, then smiled crookedly and ruffled his sort-of son's hair. "I just realised how much I'm going to miss being able to just pop in for a visit and have you be here. When you go to Hogwarts, I won't get to see you again until Christmas just about." He smiled and shook his head. "But don't mind me, you're going off on an official Adventure September first! All excited about finally getting regular schooling for your talents instead of just running experiments?"

"I'm going to miss you and mum loads too. And Aunt Donna." Harry glomped his dad in a big hug, then shrugged. "I dunno. Mostly I'm excited, but I'm worried about mum and how she'll handle me being gone all the time. Plus I'm worried about Hedwig too, especially if you can't get a mobile to work around extremely high concentrations of concentrated magic. I'm afraid mum will wear her out writing every day just to stay in touch."

"She won't, Harry," A quiet chuckle warmed the shared hug, then the Doctor let go and settled Harry across his lap. "You know she likes Hedwig as much as she likes all the cats - why else would she breed lemmings so that Hedwig could have her most favoured prey? I can't see her writing more than every two or three days...and if you're really worried about Hedwig, you can always have her stick around for a bit with you."

"I guess that was a bit silly of me, wasn't it?" He relaxed in the coolth of leaning against his dad for a few minutes, then suddenly sat straight up and slapped his palm against his forehead. "Bother! I've got to go call Hermione or she'll fret and muck up her packing!" He slid off his dad's lap and picked up the handset, then turned back to the couch with a concerned look. "You will be okay though, right?"

"Course I will, Harry!" The Doctor stood with a grin that almost reached his eyes, and rested a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I've got Donna. And your mum. So you just go on and talk with your inquisitive girlfriend...just try not to miss tea. Your mum will be peeved."

"Daaad! She's just a friend who happens to be a girl!" He ducked out from under the hand, rolled his eyes at his dad and darted up the stairs, not even noticing that no one told him not to run in this house this time.

* * *

><p>"Granger residence, may I help you?"<p>

"This is Harry, and I'm calling for Hermione?"

"Harry! Oh, I'm so glad you called! Hang on just a moment while I go tell my mum I'll be busy with the phone for a bit!"

"Um, sure." He could faintly hear Hermione talking to her mum and getting a time limit of an hour, then the thumping sounds of her going upstairs.

"There, back. Sorry, but I wanted a bit of privacy so I took the handset up to my room. Now you have to tell me everything! How fast was Hedwig, all round? How long do you have to use the phone? I've only an hour and that doesn't seem nearly enough time, oh, and just what -did- you mean by calling magic a psychokinetic manipulation of ambient energy? And-"

"Hermione! Breathe!" He paused a moment to make sure she was done, then started answering questions. "Hedwig took four hours to get to Dean's, then from Dean's to your house was around three, likewise for the trip back to his house where she rested for the night since snowy owls are more diurnal than nocturnal, though perfectly capable of flying at night at need, then she got back to me around three hours after she left Dean's this morning. Probably a headwind or something on the way to his place yesterday. I'll send you another note so I can see how long it is on a straight me-to-you run and remember to check the weather this time. I've got about an hour too, being ordered to not miss tea, so that's convenient. And it's a longish explanation so maybe you can ask the question I interrupted while you get comfortable?"

"Oh. Well that's a lot faster than regular post then. But what about to and from Hogwarts? And that's convenient, because my limit is because of teatime too, and I was going to ask if you were comfortable about talking about being in three books."

"I'll mail the Headmaster tomorrow with some more questions and find out then. And I'm actually in about four or five, not counting the fictional series that my mum's hired the goblins to find the author of and sue his or her pants off for defamation of character and not sharing profits." He sighed and continued. "I'm actually more uncomfortable with the fact that each of the five more factual books contradicts the others, not one of them mentions every provable fact about that night, and only two mention my birth mother as having done anything at all, and that's just guesswork, not to mention she's only mentioned as peripheral to, well, anything. And I really don't like being famous for something I only vaguely remember happening in nightmares and didn't actually _do._ I mean, I wasn't even a year and a half old, so how was I supposed to have killed an evil wizard? Cry at him until he died of shame?"

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." There was an uncomfortable silence.

"S'all right, Hermione. Every so often it just hits me that the only memories I have of my birth parents is them getting murdered." He was quiet for a few moments, then briskly continued so he wouldn't get mopey. "Anyway, any other reactions than realising that what we were talking about actually happened to me?"

"Well...wizards don't seem to be very logical, but it's possible that those books only contradict each other because each author has his or her own pet theory. And why's your mum suing for not sharing profits? She didn't seem like that kind of woman when I met her in Diagon. And why are you writing the Headmaster just to find out how fast owls can go between home and Hogwarts? Don't you think he's a bit too busy for that? Maybe you should write Professor McGonagall instead."

"Oh, mum can go on for _ages_ about wizards being illogical, so maybe it is possible. But you'd think that they could all at least agree on something about that night. And she's only suing for profits because that motivates goblins better than being indignant about a wholly inappropriate opinion being formed about me. Plus she's peeved that she never noticed the books before, and a bit vindictive, and hitting the author in the wallet is better than doing illegal things like kidnapping and experimentation. As for the Headmaster, he's the one who came to visit us, and we had a fascinating discussion before we went to Diagon, and he's the one who said if I had questions to ask him that I could write. And I really do have more questions than just 'how fast did it take Hedwig to get there'."

"Oh. Well, that does seem to be a way to get faster action. I really don't understand why the goblins are so surly though. But your mum really wouldn't do human experimentation, would she? And I'm impressed and jealous - I got Professor McGonagall visiting to explain everything, and you got the Headmaster! He's a brilliant man, and you actually got to talk to him! Soo...unless it's personal, what were you going to ask him? And you never did explain about the psychokinetic manipulations...and I thought psychokinetic meant moving things with your mind?"

"Heh. The goblins are surly because they're a warrior culture with all the pride that entails, and most wizards treat them like dirt. Mum and dad know how to talk and hold themselves with warrior cultures though, so they give them and me by proxy a pretty fair shake as long as we respect their abilities and understand that in Gringots, they're in charge. Not to mention that every service requires paying for. There are still things about their culture that none of us understand though. And no, mum wouldn't really do human experimentation because it's illegal. Just mutter about it sometimes." He paused and laughed. "You're jealous? You got an animagus to do your visit and you're jealous of me?" He laughed some more and shook his head. "Weeeell, among other things I'd rather not talk about, I found out he was an alchemist and I wanted to ask him what that entailed because it sounds interesting." He chuckled again and said. "You may as well get any other questions out of the way before I dive in to that explanation."

"Harry Potter, you are the most frustrating boy in existence!" She huffed, and there were the sounds of scribbling faintly audible over the line before she continued. "There, I've written down my other questions but you're not going to delay any longer you hear me?"

"Easily." He switched ears and got more comfortable. "First off, you're confusing psychokinetic with psychokinesis. The latter is moving things with the mind alone, the former is similar, but channeling more than just the body's energy with the mind telling the energy to do things. And we've actually been studying this since I was six, partly as a way to control all the 'accidental magic' I was doing, and partly because we were all curious. Next...well, psychokinetic manipulation of ambient energy may actually be the wrong way to scientifically describe magic, but it's what my mum used in the beginning and we're all used to it. But it's actually all in the mind, magic. Now wait, let me explain." He paused to make sure she'd stay quiet, then carried on, completely ignoring Donna calling up with a ten minute warning. "Whether you call it psychokinetic manipulation of ambient energy or magic, it all starts in the mind. For instance, when I wanted something out of my reach, my mind tapped the energy and brought it to me. Mind over matter in the purest sense, and I mean that literally. Another thing I did a few years ago, was I got bored with a yo-yo and changed it into a slinky. But I'd had a lesson on magnesium earlier, and I was thinking about it, so I got a magnesium slinky instead of a steel one. And let me tell you, without a wand? Changing things like that leaves a fair amount of residual heat, and magnesium burns reallyreallyreally brightly, even underwater. I thought I'd have spots in my eyes for the rest of my life! So you see, focusing your mind is really important, because when you're changing things, you get what you're thinking of. I'm still not sure if the so-called 'accidental' or emotionally driven wandless magic goes away when one gets used to using a wand - that's one of my long-term projects for Hogwarts. Now, do you want me to get into the quantum wavelengths and mechanics where it all really happens, or can you be happy with just the theory presented?" There was quite a bit of silence on the line, and Harry nervously cleared his throat. "Hermione? Are you still there?"

"Yes of course I'm still here, I'm just trying to absorb everything you were talking about." She was quiet, then she huffed again. "Drat. Just when I was about to start asking more questions it just has to be teatime. I've got to go, Harry. You will call again soon, won't you?"

He sighed too as he heard the announcement that tea was ready, then replied. "Yeah, of course I will. I can't wait to see how many questions you have tomorrow. Bye Hermione!"

"Bye Harry!"

* * *

><p><em>7 August, 1991<em>

_Headmaster Dumbledore,_

_I'm sorry I forgot to ask these questions while you were here on the first, but it was a rather exciting day and you did say I could write you._

_First question: Is there a spell that makes a globe of light to hover around a person? And if so, what happens when the spell is ended? Does it vanish with a 'pop', or just vanish? I ask because I've been able to make light like that for a few years now, and every time I lose the globe, it goes with a 'pop'. It's very confusing, because making objects glow doesn't end with any noise whatsoever._

_Second question, but not really related to your visit: As you suggested, we bought several samples of wizarding treats, and most all of them are tasty. Except the Bertie Botts Beans...do wizards actually like the taste of sweaty socks and dirt? Or are the unpleasant flavours meant to make a bag of jellybeans into an unnecessary adventure? Except that's not what I really wanted to ask, I just got distracted explaining why I don't like them. I got your Chocolate Frog card, and it said you worked with Nicholas Flamel in the field of Alchemy. Is a course in Alchemy offered at Hogwarts, or is it an apprenticeship setup? And what exactly is Alchemy?_

_Third question: I've been timing owl post to various places, and my friends and I were curious as to how long it took an owl to get to Hogwarts and back. If you would, will you let me know when Hedwig got to you, and when you send her off again? I'll be sending her off at 9 AM, in case you're curious too._

_Bother. Mum says that three questions, two of which will result in long answers, is enough for a letter. So I'll close out here with my thanks for reading and considering answering._

_Your (future) student_

_Harry Potter._

Albus Dumbledore chuckled as he read the letter, then pulled an owl treat from a pocket and offered it to Hedwig. "When you've finished, you may go and rest in the owlery until I'm ready to respond." She responded with a _pyie_, and gently nibbled his finger before taking the treat. Finished, she took wing and soared out to find the owlery.

"A new correspondent, Albus? I don't believe I recognize that owl." Minerva raised an inquiring eyebrow at him and sipped at her tea.

"I suppose you could call it that. Mister Potter is a most inquisitive, intelligent child, and I gave him permission to write me with further questions as I had to cut our delightful discussion short so we could join your orientation group on the first."

"So Perfect Potter has snowed you already, has he?" Snape sneered from his other side. "He'll be more arrogant than his father when he gets here, bragging about the privilege of having the headmaster himself introducing him to the wizarding world."

"Now Severus, Harry is not James. In fact, it's quite likely he will be Sorted into Ravenclaw with the influence of his adoptive parents." He would have continued, if he hadn't been interrupted by an excited Filius.

"Really, Albus? Lily once confessed to me that she'd nearly been Sorted into Ravenclaw, although she never did tell me what the determining factor was for her being Sorted Gryffindor."

"Indeed. In fact, Harry is already well past what Highlands offers for our muggleborn, those that choose the option to keep up with their muggle lessons. And he is now turning that intellect towards magic...I look forward to hearing what you all have to say once he's been to your classes."

"Well, I'll have to see for myself," Pomona murmured. "Herbology is hands-on work when it comes down to it. And he may turn out to have a black thumb, poor dear. For every gift there's a deficiency in another field."

"I refuse to believe it unless I see it." Severus snorted and finished his tea. "Now, I'll leave the rest of you to discuss the arrogant brat - I have actual work to do."

Minerva snorted softly as Snape left. "I still don't understand how he can hold such a grudge when James has been dead a decade. Not to mention accuse a child he hasn't met of arrogance." She shook her head, then looked at Albus again. "I suppose if you're right, I'll just have to get used to seeing that Potter mop in blue and bronze."

"Now Minerva, the Hat puts the children where they're best suited. And who knows?" Filius smiled up at her. "He may be like Lily - brilliance barely outweighed by courage."

"It may be," murmured Albus between bites of finishing his breakfast. "He did mention something about standing up to a bully that was much larger than he. Still, perhaps we three will be surprised and he'll be more loyal than brave or brilliant."

"If he is, I'll welcome him with the rest of my Badgers. But Sorting speculation is useless, and I'm afraid that, like our grumpy Severus, I have work to finish to be ready for September first." Pomona Sprout stood, smiled at the three remaining, and swept off to sort out her new plants for the greenhouses.

Albus smiled at the two remaining Heads of House, then rose himself. "And I have an inquisitive young man to answer, as well as more official correspondence to deal with. I'll leave you two to discuss whether Mister Potter might be braver than he is intelligent, or vice versa." Once he was far enough away from the friendly argument, he murmured. "Merlin help us if he is braver than his already-impressive intellect. I'll have to find him someone sensible that he'll listen to, in that case."

* * *

><p><em>8 August, 1991<em>

_Dear Harry,_

_I don't mind at all you writing with questions, and I shall answer them all to the best of my ability. First, I shall discuss owl post. In general, owls take approximately a full day to make the trip from England to Scotland and Hogwarts, and in specific, Hedwig arrived at 9 AM this morning. I offered her the hospitality of the school owlery, and told her to find me when she was rested. Weather conditions do affect the speed of flight both favourably and adversely, and in the worst cases such as blizzards and violent thunderstorms it is extremely ill-advised for any owl to leave the safety of their home or the school. But in general, owls take two days for a round trip from here to most families. Those that live in Scotland receive their post faster, of course._

_Now, on to Alchemy. Unfortunately, Alchemy is an apprenticeship discipline and is therefore not offered at Hogwarts. It also requires excellent understanding not only of the core classes (although not so much Defense), but also of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, which you will have the opportunity to take as a third year student. Care of Magical Creatures is useful as well, though as Apothecaries have become a more standard fixture, it is not as much a requirement as when I was young, and Alchemists had to acquire their own parts to work with. As to what Alchemy is, it is at heart a discipline wherein the Alchemist studies the nature of magic, as well as combines the magics we learn as children to create new and wondrous magic and objects, therefore it also requires a certain creative mind-set in the Alchemist. I should prefer not to explain in greater detail until you have a much better understanding of magic than you do now, as Alchemy can be a most dangerous discipline, but if you wish to learn more of the practitioners of this ancient and, sadly, fading art, I might suggest you acquire the book entitled 'Alchemists Through the Ages'. It also has an extremely broad general overview of the art that might answer a few of your future questions about the art though I do of course welcome any you care to ask me._

_As for the Every-Flavour Beans, I believe the makers intended their beans to be eaten by the handful for new taste adventures every time. However, when one encounters a vomit-flavoured bean, one rather loses one's taste for them ever after. There are enough that like the taste adventure to keep them in production, despite it being a mystery to us._

_Your light globe is an interesting spell normally learned in fifth year, when one begins to want to use one's wand for other spells while having light. However, the orb created by spell does not make any noise when it is dismissed, so I rather suspect you are not using it. (I do not enclose the incantation for you to see the potential differences, as I suspect your mother would not appreciate me encouraging you to place a not inconsiderable strain your magic.) What exactly you are doing is something of a mystery, and I should like to see it in person. Unfortunately, the rest of my August is quite taken up with my various and sundry duties, so I hope you can muster your patience until you reach Hogwarts. Once you have arrived and become used to your schedule, I would be most interested in aiding and abetting your experiments, both with your light globe and further extensions of wandless magic. As I mentioned during my visit, keeping your ability to do wandless magic as you learn how to channel magic through a wand will serve you very well in the future._

_In closing, I do continue to welcome any and all of your questions, as they are a refreshing change from the documents and official correspondences I must usually attend to._

_Your Headmaster and correspondent,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Post Scriptum: Hedwig proved rested enough to retrieve my letter at noon, and so I expect you shall receive this letter at noon tomorrow, provided the weather is good betwixt here and there._

* * *

><p>The rest of August was full of activities as usual, though this year included a few trips to meet up with Dean, and a few more trips to Diagon with his mum. And, when she got back, a last trip to meet with Hermione and Dean, where the boys found out she could kick a mean ball (and wound up sneaking a field hockey kit into Harry's trunk, as well as the footy kit). August also involved a lot of family time, and each member trying to convince the others that they were perfectly fine with Harry going away for months at a time. It wasn't that easy, even for Harry who really was excited for the most part.<p>

September First showed up too fast, like they'd skipped all of August in the TARDIS. Still, Harry was excited that the day was finally here, and it showed as he inhaled his breakfast and bounced everything he was taking down the stairs and into Bessie's boot. Well, except for Hedwig. He only brought owl treats for her because she was resting from her last pre-departure letter run, and would be coming along tomorrow. And Quaiz's travel basket was going to be riding with him, along with his dimensionally expanded satchel that had quite a lot of lunch packed in it, along with a set of robes and some of his books.

Donna had decided to stay behind, so it was just the three of them riding into London. It was a mostly-quiet trip, as the Doctor was concentrating on driving through the rush hour traffic, and the Rani was trying not to be overly-emotional. It was ridiculous to worry so much, she thought. Harry was older than her own children when they'd gone to the Academy, which meant he would be better prepared for the experience with his three extra years of nurturing. And yet, he was human, mostly, so she couldn't quite quiet her concerns.

At ten precisely, they walked into the station, Harry pushing his trolley with trunk and Quaiz, and met up with Dean and his mum, and Hermione and her parents. The adults were talking among themselves, leaving the three friends to be excited together. At last, the adults separated for last good-byes, and Harry found himself hugged by both his parents.

"Have fun while you're away, Harry, and try not to break too many rules. Or at least, don't get caught breaking them." The Doctor grinned and ruffled Harry's hair for the last time until Christmas hols.

"Don't get into trouble you can't get out of, and keep ahead of your studies if you can. And write at least once a week so I don't worry, all right?" The Rani hugged Harry (a rare occurrence in public), and smoothed his hair into as much order as it ever allowed.

"I will, dad. And yes mum, I'll do well in school and write lots." He hugged them both one more time, then took up his trolley and followed Hermione and Dean through the barrier of Nine and Three-Quarters.

The Doctor put his arm around the Rani's shoulders and squeezed gently, both to comfort her and to make sure she didn't try and follow Harry to pull him back at the last minute. "He'll be all right. He's got friends, and he'll finally be learning all the tricks of a millenia, as far as magic goes. Besides," he said, forcing cheer he didn't quite feel. "It'll feel like no time at all until he's back."

She snorted softly, but didn't try to shrug his arm off. "I've become far too used to having him there all the time. Two months and a bit are going to drag appallingly."

"You could always come with me and Donna," he murmured. "We wouldn't mind, and we could arrange letter-times so that Harry wrote on a particular day that we could come back on."

"I don't _do_ adventures, idiot. You know that." She rolled her eyes at him and closed the discussion for the moment by going to join the other bereft parents for a chat about their children and how much they were going to be missed.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Since I don't have any felix felicis, I still have to say I own neither Harry Potter nor Doctor Who. Drat it all. :P

Author's Notes: Here's the other half of what was _supposed_ to be one chapter. Train ride, various encounters (including Malfoy, oh happy day), and the Sorting (with the answer to whether Harry really is braver than he is smart). And...sorry, Ron fans. This isn't a case of 'instant friends, just add train ride'. Ron's a very sheltered and annoying eleven, and Harry...isn't. Ron's going to have to work at a lot of bad personality traits before he can earn friendship. Quotes, where and when they happen, are in italics as always, and this should be the last chapter I quote the book in.

Once again, love to all my reviewers and readers!

* * *

><p>Begins the New Weave<p>

It was silent in the compartment for a good few minutes after the train pulled out of the station. Finally Dean sighed and leaned back on the seat. "I wish our parents could've come through the barrier with us."

Hermione shrugged and opened her bag to rummage for a book. "Well, it would've been nice to wave good bye, but I don't think my parents would have done well with some of those...well, _people_."

Harry finally left the window and smirked as he bounced on the seat across from his friends. "Heh. Now I'm even more upset they couldn't come through the barrier. Couldn't you just see that blond ponce with the sneer and the snake fetish versus my mum?" He laughed and opened the travel basket to let Quaiz out. "Seriously, the man wouldn't have stood a chance while mum logicked him to death."

Dean pulled out his sketchpad and just barely managed to catch the base lines of Quaiz stretching his way out of the basket. "Death by logic, what a painful way to go." He looked up and snickered as Harry was now wearing a cat-fur collar. "Does he do that a lot?"

"Honestly, what are you talking about, death by logic? It isn't like being illogical can kill, nor can being logical at someone else." She blinked at Quaiz wrapped around Harry's shoulders and sighed. "Now I really wish I'd gotten a cat."

Quaiz blinked at Hermione and chirred, then nestled into his preferred spot. Harry scritched him behind his ears and smiled at Hermione and Dean. "Yup, so get used to it. And Hermione, there's always Christmas. Or next year. Or maybe next summer, especially if you're looking for a familiar. And let your magic make the choice, don't just pick a cat because it's cute or something. As for logicking something or someone to death...well, it can be done, but usually it's robots or computers where someone's mucked up and attempted AI without appropriate safeguards. Like Azimov's Laws of Robotics. Forget those or something similar, and even your basic AI has no morals and has to pick them up by experience. Which usually ends very badly." He pulled a frown and rummaged in his own bag. While elbow-deep in it, he continued. "I'm not sure a person can actually be logicked to death, but bigoted gits are always fun to hit with a logic-shaped bat."

Most of Dean's attention was on his sketchpad, but he still managed to keep track of the conversation. "I don't even want to know when you've come in contact with real AI's, Harry. Or was it your parents?"

"Harry! Stop being so...so...oh! Stop dropping hints like that! Especially if it's going to wind up being top secret and you ought not be talking about it in the first place!" She huffed and laid _Magical Drafts and Potions_ beside her. "And what do you mean, let my magic make the choice of familiar? Aren't they just pets?" She blinked at Harry now shoulder-deep in his bag, but figured it was magical, like her book bag.

"It was my parents, yeah. Because I was talking one year about making an AI of my own, and they both wanted me to know how much trouble they could be. And...sorry Hermione. I'll try to remember not to mention stuff that ought to be top secret. Even if it is likely to be declassified. Eventually." Having come up with _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_, he sat back and somehow managed to get comfortable without squashing Quaiz. "Well, most animals wind up being pets, yeah. But sometimes there's a connection...a...well, bond, between animal and wizard. Or witch. I think I'm a bit weird, because I'm pretty sure I'm the only wizard to ever get a familiar by proxy."

That was enough to get Dean to look up from his sketchpad. "You have got to be kidding me." Simultaneously with Hermione, which made them both look at each other, then stare at Harry again.

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p' like his dad would. "When mum first found Diagon Alley, and found out how famous I was, among other things, she got accosted by Hedwig when she went into Eeylops to find out exactly what owling someone meant. When she got home, Hedwig glomped onto me and basically claimed me as her wizard. But I already had Quaiz who claimed me the same way just about, and I didn't want to try and get preferential treatment, so Hedwig's going to do mail runs for all of us and hang out with me while she's at Hogwarts."

"Harry? If I haven't said it before, I'd like to say it now. You're _weird_." Dean grinned to take any sting out of his words, and went back to his sketch, murmuring, "...I wonder if I can make sketches move the way pictures do in the wizarding world?"

Hermione heaved a gusty sigh, but nodded and picked up her book. "I see what you mean, although Hedwig seems like a rare case. I'll see if my parents will agree to let me go through Eeylops and the Magical Menagerie during the Christmas hols." She really wanted to have a bond with a pet, not just have a pet now that she knew about familiar bonds, so she thought she'd try and let her magic pick an animal.

* * *

><p>Conversation died off for a while, and the compartment was quiet save for the scratch of a pencil and the flipping of pages. Until there was a soft knock at the door of their compartment. It slid partly open, and a round-faced boy peered in.<p>

"Sorry, but have any of you seen a toad? Only I've lost mine, and I can't find him."

"No," Harry said, sliding a bookmark into his book. "But I'll help you look. Hermione? Dean? Care to join the great toad-hunt?"

"Sure," Dean said, and slid his sketchbook back into his bag. "What's his name? And what's yours?" He smiled at the boy in the door and offered his hand. "I'm Dean, t'other bloke's Harry and this is Hermione, behind the book."

Hermione looked up from her book and smiled, but shook her head. "I'll stay here and make sure no one messes with our belongings. There was a lot of running up and down earlier. It's nice to meet you though."

"I...I'm Neville. Neville Longbottom. And my toad's name is Trevor. You don't have to help me-"

"Course we do," Harry interrupted with a grin, and shook Neville's hand after Dean's. "What else are potential friends for? Now, this carriage has a loo-"

"Two sets of loos, one on either end," Hermione interrupted.

"Right, two sets of loos, and toads like damp just not quite as much as frogs do. Are you sure you don't want to come with, Hermione? I'm sure one of us can stay and keep our compartment safe...and with you along, you can check the girls' loos and save us bothering a regular squeamish girl who'll just go 'ewww, ick!'"

"Oh all right." She put a bookmark in her book, then eyed Dean and Harry. "You two run a quick game of rock, paper, scissors and figure out who's coming along and who's staying." She smiled at Neville and offered her hand. "Sorry for not acting concerned earlier, but we do need someone to sit and make sure no one meddles with our things." In the background, Harry had just managed to lose to Dean. "Well, looks like Dean's coming along and Harry's guarding."

"And I expect a thrilling tale of adventure - or at least some sort of story to make up for it." He grinned at all of them and just about dove into his bag headfirst, coming back up in moments with a banana. "Off you go then - do the loos first, then check the other compartments."

His hand still in Hermione's, Neville blinked at Harry's performance, then shook his head. He could always ask later how he managed to fit so much space in a bag.

Alone, Harry peeled the banana and took a bite, petting Quaiz and contemplating a way to keep Trevor the toad from running off again once he was found. His planning was interrupted by the door sliding open again, and a red-head asking "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"I rather doubt that _everywhere_ else is full. And besides, this compartment's full too, the other occupants are just gone to the loos."

"Oh come off it, there's no one else in there you've just spread all your stuff around." The rude ginger barged in and attempted to sit on Hermione's book. Attempted, because Harry got in his way.

"I said I have other compartment companions, and they've gone to the loos. You're very rude, you know." Harry frowned, and would have said something else, but the red-head interrupted.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Ron Weasley." He offered his hand, which Harry took and applied not-quite-crushing pressure to in an attempt to make him back up.

"I'm Harry. And for the third time, I am not alone in here, you'll have to find somewhere else."

Harry turned his head, trying to see past Ron to the distant 'a-ha! Found you!' followed by a blissful 'Trevor!', but all he really accomplished was his fringe moving and Ron seeing his scar. "Blimey! You're Harry Potter! What do you remember about that night?"

"I was fifteen months old," Harry replied in a glacial voice, his frown mutated into a full-on scowl, "I don't remember anything. Now since all you can do is be rude and suck-up, _go away!_"

"Try and be nice to a bloke and see what it gets," Ron muttered, and just barely moved out of the way of the trimphual return procession.

"You were right to send me, Harry. Somehow Trevor got in the girl's loo down at the other end," Hermione smiled, but the smile twisted into a concerned look as she'd never seen Harry frowning before, much less scowling ferociously like he was now. "Harry? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Hermione. Weasley there was just leaving." He glared at Ron a moment more, then turned away from the door and started rummaging in his bag again. "Come sit down, Neville. I want to see if I can come up with something to keep Trevor from running loose again."

"Why does he get to sit with you and I don't?" Ron blustered, blocking Dean's attempts to get in the carriage.

"Because Neville is polite, and needs a portable terrarium for his toad. You on the other hand, lied to me, called me a liar, and then tried to not only suck up when you found out I was bloody famous, but tried to quiz me for details _of my birth parents being murdered._ So no, there's no way in any of the known hells that I'm letting you sit in here."

"There's no need to be so- hey! What do you think you're doing?" Ron interrupted himself to yell at Dean, who'd finally gotten tired of his blocking the way and bodily moved him so he could get in the compartment.

"Among other things, entering my compartment which I've been in the whole train ride, and I'm probably the only thing standing between you and getting your nose broken or worse. Now go away before you get me as pissed off as you have Harry."

Ron muttered something that Harry might have been able to interpret if Quaiz hadn't been purring up a storm trying to calm him, and left after glaring at each of them.

"Well! He was certainly rude - I hope I'm not sorted into the same house as he is!" Hermione rolled her eyes and picked her book up, sat down and laid it across her lap. "So Neville, you're from a pureblood family, right? So you must have a good understanding of magic already. Do you think you could share any of it with us? I mean, Harry and I have already read all the books, and I'm sure Dean's studied them some, but we're all muggle-born or muggle-raised, so having a pureblood point of view would be brilliant."

"Don't mind her," Dean grinned as he moved Quaiz's basket under the seats to make room for Neville. "She's got to learn everything as soon as possible, and wants to share everything she knows with everyone just cause she's generous that way." He might have said more but he finally noticed that, at some point after Ron had left, Harry somehow got waist deep in his bag and Quaiz had relocated to the back of the seat. All three of them were staring wide-eyed when Harry finally yelled 'a-ha!' and pulled himself out of the bag.

"Um, Harry? Bags aren't supposed to be that deep. Just enough for all our schoolbooks a-and maybe a spare set of robes." Neville looked like he wanted to bolt after commenting so boldly, but as the door was shut it would've been a bit awkward.

Harry smiled, much calmer after his bag-expedition, and handed over a twice-Trevor sized box. "There, hang on to that while I shred some paper. And it's not a regular bag - my parents dimensionally expanded it. You staying with us for the rest of the ride?"

Dean snickered and shook his head. "Only you would have parents who could actually make a Bag of Holding, Harry."

"I thought it was more like Mary Poppins' carpetbag, myself." Hermione murmured, still staring wide-eyed at the bag and visibly holding back a flood of questions about it.

"I-I suppose I could. If you three don't mind...I was all by myself until I lost Trevor." He had a confused look as Harry moistened the shredded paper and arranged it in the box.

"So much for that lying git," muttered Harry. A deep breath and sigh later, he smiled crookedly at Neville. "There, temporary hole for a toad to be comfy in. Sorry I don't have any moss or anything like that, but Trevor should be happy enough in the paper until we get to Hogwarts."

* * *

><p>After having received multiple reassurances that they didn't mind his staying, Neville settled down a bit and, aside from staring again when Harry pulled a picnic basket out of his bag, had a reasonably good time eating lunch with the three and answering as many questions as he could until the lady came by with the snack cart. They all bought quite a bit of assorted goodies, even though the four combined lunches had filled them all nicely. It was because, as Neville had said (and Hermione confirmed from <em>Hogwarts, a History<em>), they wouldn't get to leave the castle until the hols, and two months was a long time to go without treats if they couldn't make friends with an older student who'd pick them up stuff from Hogsmeade.

A few chocolate frogs did get opened though (there's always room for chocolate), and Harry had just eaten his when the compartment door opened again, and three boys stepped in. Two thick-set lads bracketed the third, pale boy like bodyguards.

_"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"_

"Oh god, not another fan boy." Harry groaned, and rolled his eyes ceiling-ward. "No I don't remember what happened that night, no you may not gawp at my scar and no you can't join me because this compartment's full and I like the people I'm sitting with." Ignoring the pale boy and his bodyguards, Harry looked first at Dean and Hermione, then at Neville. "Remind me to hex that blathering red-headed git the first chance I get after I master one, yeah?"

"I am not a fan boy, whatever that is," the pale boy sneered. "My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. And this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." Contempt added itself to his sneer as he looked around at the other three. "Two muggleborns and a squib. Not the best sort to associate with."

He sniffed, then turned back to Harry. _"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."_

Harry curled his lip and got in Malfoy's face before the boy could even move to offer his hand. "I am perfectly capable of choosing my own friends, with my own criteria." Dean and Neville had stood up behind Harry by this point to show their support, and Hermione was whispering spells she might be able to use to break this up.

_Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks._

_"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either."_

Malfoy would, perhaps, have continued, but Neville of all people spoke up. "You-you just get out of here Malfoy!"

Three against four, even if two of the boys did resemble boulders with attitude, wasn't the best odds, so Malfoy sneered one last time and left, the boulders following him after cracking their knuckles.

Neville was the first to sit back down, shaking like a leaf. "I-I-I can't believe that worked! Especially against Malfoy. He's all stuck up because his father's rich and Gran says he used to be a Death-eater but bought his way clear during the trials. So that's more attitude problem on top of thinking he's better than everyone."

"Why not? He and his thugs are just bullies. Stand up to them, especially in numbers, and they'll back down. Or shove you down some stairs, but the bullies always get in official trouble for that." Harry sat down and smiled at Dean and Hermione, who was pale but had her wand out and was still muttering spells.

"It probably helped loads having Hermione going through the entire Charms text, didn't it?" Dean grinned at Hermione who was finally relaxing, then at Neville, and Harry who grinned back.

"Yup! So, anyone want to play a game? I've got a deck of cards, we can play any game we all know," Harry started, to be interrupted by Hermione.

"Actually, we should probably get changed, because it's getting dark and we're bound to be there soon."

* * *

><p>The four friends got off the train onto a tiny, dark platform, and were looking around wondering where to go when they heard a loud voice calling out. <em>"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon, follow me-any more firs' years? Mind yer step now! Firs' years follow me!"<em> The man was huge, with a massively hairy face, and was waving a lantern to attract all the first year students to him.

As they slipped and stumbled down a steep, narrow path, Harry muttered. "I wonder why they don't light this path? It would be lots easier on all of us if we could see where we were putting our feet. And blimey it's dark! We must be surrounded by trees!" He was interrupted when Neville lost his footing and stumbled into him. "Easy there Neville. Still got Trevor in his box?"

Neville fumbled in one of his pockets worriedly, then sighed in relief. "He's still in his box. You were right about the damp, Harry." Hermione slid into them then, barely avoiding a collision thanks to Dean's hand on her elbow.

_"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."_

"Oh wow. Would you look at that?" Dean whispered.

_The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side was a vast castle with many turrets and towers._

_"No more'n four to a boat!" the large man called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. _

"Oh, boats! Brilliant!" Harry grinned and helped Hermione in, then steadied their boat for Dean and Neville before hopping in himself. "And the castle looks amazing, doesn't it?" His three friends just nodded, though Dean's hands twitched like he wanted to be sketching the scene. Harry was just about to start looking for oars when he heard the booming voice of the very large, hairy man.

_"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then-FORWARD!"_

_And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood._

"I have got to figure out how this is done," Harry murmured, "it's definitely propulsion of some sort, maybe a towing spell linked to the lead boat..." He was interrupted by Dean pulling him down just in time to miss being smacked in the face with a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. The boats carried on down a tunnel which seemed like it wouldn't end until suddenly it did at an underground harbor of sorts with a beach of rocks and pebbles.

The pebbles turned into an underground passageway, which dumped the lot of them onto a smooth, damp lawn in the shadow of the castle. Up a flight of stone steps was a massive oak door, which Hagrid knocked three times on with his huge fist.

The door swung open, revealing a tall, black-haired witch in green robes. She looked very stern, and reminded Harry of his mum when she was in a no-nonsense-it's-time-to-learn mood. Hermione whispered 'that's Professor McGonagall' while Hagrid was telling the lady that they were the first years.

They followed the rest of the students inside, where they all stopped and gazed at the absolutely enourmous entrance hall. It was big enough to fit Harry's whole house in it, lit with torches, and the ceiling was so high the torch-light didn't even come close to revealing it. There was an absolutely magnificent marble staircase leading to the upper floors, but Professor McGonagall led them across to a small chamber across the hall, past a closed door behind which was a lot of murmuring. Everyone crowded in, with some accidental shoving, and most were nervously peering around.

_"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room._

_"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours._

_"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I will return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."_

Harry, Dean and Neville all nervously checked each other over to make sure they were as neat as eleven-year-olds could be, straightened up a bit, then looked at Hermione, who somehow managed to be quite neat.

"I-I hope however we get sorted, we're in the same House," Neville said, softly. "I like having friends."

"Me too, Neville," Hermione said with a shy smile. "I don't know what I'd do without the four of you."

Dean and Harry gave each other confused looks, then grinned at Neville and Hermione. "Nothing says we can't still be friends even in different houses, we just won't get to spend every day together. Right Harry?"

"Absolutely! Friends are too precious to lose just because of different houses. And if we are separated like that, there's still weekends and after-class time to get together and do things."

"Provided we don't lose you to the library or something," Dean snickered. He would have said more, but several people screamed, making the four of them jump and turn around while everyone gasped at the ghosts that had streamed into the room, having an argument about someone named Peeves who, apparently, wasn't even a ghost.

"Wow. Disembodied beings that hold their body-images and personalities." Harry had a weird grin, and his eyes were shining.

"Ghosts, Harry. _Hogwarts, a History_ explained them." Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Yeah, I know, but it's one thing to read and another to see. At least they seem friendly enough." Harry replied in a murmur, while Professor McGonagall shooed the ghosts off and lead them back out of the room, across the hall, and through the pair of double doors the murmuring had come from earlier.

The Great Hall was lit by a truly massive number of candles floating unsupported in the air over four long tables that sat the rest of the students. The tableware was gold, even the goblets and plates, and up at the head of the hall where all the first years were being lead was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Harry flashed a brief smile at Headmaster Dumbledore, then had his attention drawn by Dean and Hermione whispering about the ceiling and how it was bewitched to look like the sky outside. He joined in with a murmur. "There isn't even any distortion, like a hologram would make. I have got to figure out how to do that - wouldn't it be amazing to be able to sleep under the sky safely?"

"Bit scary in a thunderstorm though," Neville replied. He might have said something more, but Professor McGonagall had just put a four-legged stool in front of them, and put a patched, frayed, and rather dirty pointed wizard's hat on it.

_For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:_

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_Your top hats sleek and tall, _

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can top them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Harry barely noticed the whole hall break into applause, nor the hat bowing to the four tables. He was too busy multitasking an analysis of the traits of the houses and trying not to snicker at that git Weasley who apparently believed someone named Fred saying the sorting involved wrestling a troll. Too bad there wasn't a house for the gullible.

The Sorting started without his really paying attention, though he did note that two went to Hufflepuff and two to Ravenclaw, but his attention was drawn when a student was sorted into Slytherin. The girl didn't look to be the most pleasant person, and she was followed by the one of Malfoy's thugs (Crabbe), but just because two unpleasant people were Sorted there, there was no reason to be down on the whole House. He'd have to wait and see what they did with their cunning and ambition before making an assessment.

There were a few more people he basically ignored, then it was Hermione's turn. She practically ran to the hat and plopped it on her head. It shouted 'GRYFFINDOR!', and Harry, Dean and Neville all clapped, very nearly loud enough to drown out Weasley's groan. Harry was tempted to say something to him, but got distracted by Neville.

"Are you sure we'll all still be friends even if we get sorted into different houses?"

"Absolutely, Neville. Ah, your turn - good luck getting the house you want!"

Neville shot a wan smile at Harry and Dean, then tripped over his feet on the way to the stool. The hat seemed to take forever Sorting Neville, and Dean had just turned to Harry to ask if there'd ever been a case of a student not being sorted when the hat shouted 'GRYFFINDOR!' They both clapped for Neville, and gave him encouraging smiles when everyone else laughed at him for running off with the hat on his head.

Harry was still watching closely when Malfoy swaggered forward to be sorted, and he frowned thoughtfully when the hat barely touched Malfoy's head before screaming 'SLYTHERIN!' "Hmm. Interesting. I wonder if it can tell unpleasant people before it even gets on their heads?"

"You'll have to ask it when it's your turn, Harry. I hope there's not too many R's and S's - I'm not too sure how long I can hold out up here without any of my friends beside me."

"It'll be okay, Dean." he whispered back as 'Perks, Sally-Anne' was called. "Not too many of us left anyway, so it won't be much longer."

'Potter, Harry' was called then, and Harry had to make a massive effort to not respond to all the whispers breaking out all over the hall. He did roll his eyes at everyone looking at him before the Hat was plopped over his head though.

_I dare say, you may be the toughest student I've had to sort in a century or more. Could you please let me in, lad?_

Harry blinked in the blackness of the Hat's insides, then thought back at it. _Only if you swear to keep my secrets and not tell them without my permission. I like the Headmaster, but I'd rather have the choice whether or not to let him know everything about me._

_I am forbidden to tell the secrets of any student, even though those secrets would have been useful in defeating several Dark Lords. Now, could you let me inside your protections so I can Sort you?_

_Oh, right! Sorry._ Harry relaxed his mental shielding where he could feel the Hat poking, then had to ask a few questions. _So, how do you sort people usually? And I noticed you didn't even want to touch Malfoy's head, not that I blame you because he's a very unpleasant person. Obviously you have telepathy as well as sentience, but I would have thought you'd actually have to contact the person._

_Not always, and certainly not when the mind is screaming that it refuses to be anywhere but in a certain house. _The Hat sighed mentally and rummaged around in Harry's subconscious while maintaining the conversation._ Malfoy is ambitious enough for any three people, and it was that as well as his desire to follow in his father's footsteps that I reacted to. And you are quite right, he is most unpleasant. As for the average sorting, the function of the song is to get each student thinking about the qualities of the Houses and once they've reached me, it is generally an easy task to discover which traits they resonate with the most. _

_Wow. It must be a tricky job with some people. Like me. I can feel you poking around in there, you know...what are you looking for?_

_The traits of the Houses and how you feel about them. You have ambition, for example, and a certain cunning that would send you to Slytherin, save that the Malfoy scion and yourself would come to blows within a fortnight. I do try to keep occurrences like that to a minimum. You aren't afraid of hard work, but you are extremely picky on who possesses your loyalty, so unless you wish to go there, I won't be placing you in Hufflepuff. No, the real question is whether you fit Gryffindor or Ravenclaw._

_If it's up to me, I'd prefer Gryffindor. Two of my friends are there, and I've been taught in a different method than most other students. I don't ever accept anything just because a book says it's true, I have to test it for myself, and unless other Ravenclaws do that instead of mostly just gulp down and regurgitate books, I'd probably go mad there trying to explore this new world of magic while defending my reasoning at the same time. I'm more patient than my mum, but not -that- much more._

_You are very similar to your birth mother, young man, including the dislike of, and standing up to, bullies. A fine sharp mind, chivalrous, brave and hard working, and I look forward to you inviting me to participate in your chats with the Headmaster once you've settled into_ "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry got off the stool, flashed Dean an encouraging smile, then headed over to the wildly celebrating table. Maybe he ought to have said something about disliking his fame before he sat to get sorted, he thought, as a red-head with a Prefect's badge shook his hand, and two more were yelling "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Knowing his luck, they were all related to the git he'd met on the train and would turn on him for not befriending their brother. Oh well, something else to live with.

He sat down next to Neville and across from Hermione with a sigh. "I wonder how long it's going to take these people to get over me being famous?"

"I don't know, but I hope it's soon. This is ridiculous." Hermione huffed and shook her head, then turned her attention back to the Sorting.

"I hope Dean makes it here with us," Neville murmured as 'Thomas, Dean' was called forward to have the hat placed on his head. He joined the three at the Gryffindor table shortly after, then a 'Turpin, Lisa' went to Ravenclaw, then it was Ron Weasley's turn.

Despite Harry's hoping otherwise, Weasley got into Gryffindor too, but he sat near his brothers while 'Zabini, Blaise' was sorted into Slytherin. Hermione mumbled something, and Dean snorted. "Cheer up, at least you don't have to share a dorm with him."

There probably would have been more said, and enough to attract the attention of assorted Weasleys, but Albus Dumbledore got to his feet, beaming at all the students.

_"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"_

_"Thank you!"_

He sat down to cheers and applause, and Harry's grin and Hermione's confusion. "I wonder. Did he say that to make everyone see him as a mad old man, or is there a hidden message in there somewhere?"

"He's a genius!" said the Weasley prefect who'd shaken Harry's hand earlier. "Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Even Harry was surprised to find the table suddenly laden with piles of food. Surprised enough that he didn't get snippy with the Weasley prefect for using his name uninvited. There were roast everything, pork and lamb chops, sausages, steaks, any kind of potatoes one could think of, including chips, vegetables of all sorts, Yorkshire puddings, and, oddly, peppermint humbugs.

The four friends grinned at each other and piled their plates with samples of everything and started to eat. It was delicious, but probably would have sat better on the stomach if Weasley hadn't had to interrupt Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington's introduction, which prompted Finnigan to ask how one could be nearly headless. It was a bit gross to see Sir Nicholas pull his head by the ear and watch it fall on his shoulder, holding on by just a bit of ghostly skin. Hermione swallowed hard and missed most of the rest of the ghost's speech while nibbling on a peppermint humbug to settle her stomach, but she did turn around and look when the Bloody Baron was pointed out. He was next to that bully Malfoy, and she was pleased to notice that at least a ghost could make that...that _person_ uncomfortable.

Eventually the food vanished, and Dean had just managed to ask "I wonder if there's going to be any desserts," when the desserts appeared. Ice creams in every imaginable flavour, pies, treacle tarts, chocolate cakes and chocolate eclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, fruits, Jell-O of all colors and flavours, rice pudding...

Harry didn't pay much attention to the talk about the various families, nor much to Hermione talking to Weasley-the-Prefect about classes. He was eating a treacle tart while looking at the teachers at the High Table. Hagrid was drinking and talking with a tiny little man (or maybe he was just tiny compared to Hagrid), Professor McGonagall was talking with Professor Dumbledore, and a professor in an absurd turban was talking to another professor who had black, greasy hair, sallow skin and a hooked nose. Said professor looked at Harry, and if he'd not had a lot of practice in self-control he would have yelped at the sudden pain in his scar. He'd not had any trouble with that for years, not since his mum had sequestered the psychic leach behind it and taught him how to maintain the shields around it.

It was a weird occurrence, weird enough for him to talk to Weasley-the-Prefect on his own choice. "Excuse me, but who are those two teachers? The one with the turban and the one talking to him?"

"Professor Quirrell is the one with the turban, and Professor Snape is the other one. Professor Snape teaches Potions, but everyone knows he'd rather have Quirrell's job teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, he does."

Harry made a mental note to watch out for Professor Snape, then went back to sampling desserts he hadn't had before.

At last the desserts disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore stood up again while silence fell over the hall.

_"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you._

_"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."_

_Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins._

_"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors._

_"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch._

_"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."_

Harry frowned in thought, wondering why the Headmaster would give such an odd warning, when he could overhear Weasley-the-Prefect explaining about the Forest being common sense to avoid because of the dangerous beasts, then decided to table the subject until he could ask the Headmaster.

He almost missed the production leading up to the singing of the school song, and laughed at the idea of picking a favourite tune to sing it to. Which of course made a cacophony of joyful noise which he and his friends participated in. When it was all over, even the Weasley twins funeral march, they were all sent to bed, new Gryffindors following Weasley-the-Prefect.

Along the way they went there were talking portraits, doors hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries, and lots and lots of stairs. And then a bundle of floating walking sticks that Weasley was the target of, which turned out to be a poltergeist named Peeves that would prank anyone and would only pay attention to the Bloody Baron. Finally they reached the end of a corridor, decorated by a large portrait of a large woman in a pink dress. She turned out to be the guardian of the door to the Gryffindor common room, and she would only open to a password (currently Caput Draconis.

The girls and boys were sent up separate staircases, so Dean, Harry and Neville all said good night to Hermione before they began their trudge up the boy's staircase to what seemed like the top of the tower and the first year's dormitory. There were five four-poster beds, and Harry and Dean were lucky to find that their trunks were at beds next to each other. They were all exhausted, so they just changed to their pyjamas and crawled into their beds. Harry fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he didn't dream at all.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I still can't make felix felicis, I'm still broke, I still don't own Doctor Who or Harry Potter.

AN: Writer's block, crap life, each on it's own is hard on a writer. Teamed up with an absolutely uncooperative chapter, well, you get a delay like this. And I am SO sorry for it! SO MUCH love to all my reviewers and readers who've stuck with me during this hellacious delay! Also, I accidentally wound up nipping SPEW in the bud. Oops. Oh well, I wasn't going to argue with the chapter just when it was going well, and there will be more important stuff to worry about when I get that far anyway.

And yes, Snape's pop quiz is included in this chapter. I think it's a law that every fanfic covering first year has to include it. :D

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><p>Chapter 12: Limning the Pattern<p>

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><p>It was a good thing that Dean, Hermione and Neville stuck by Harry whenever they were out of Gryffindor tower, because otherwise he would have gotten a bit shouty at all the people gawping at him as he went down the halls. Even his friends couldn't stop him from being snide at them though, and one particularly annoying person who'd doubled back four times -did- get shouted at to 'take a picture, it'll last longer and you won't be late for class'.<p>

Another thing that annoyed him was that his dad's work on his mobile had all been for naught. It had shorted out right after he'd sent a text to tell them he'd arrived safely and had been sorted into Gryffindor. So he'd had to wait until Tuesday to hear from his parents, and the frustration of waiting had made him just about useless in History on Monday...not that Professor Binns noticed, being a ghost with the most soporific voice ever. The most annoying thing about Binns, though, was that he lectured straight from the book and didn't allow for discussion. Well, that and the book he was reading from was almost a century old - how were they supposed to learn anything about new discoveries in history if they were taught by a ghost using an outdated text?

Herbology had calmed him down though, and he'd started to make another friend or two in Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley, since they shared this class with Hufflepuff. He'd tried making friends with Ernie Macmillan and Hanna Abbot too, but either they were really shy or they were still overwhelmed with a 'famous' person talking to them. Neville was the real star of Herbology though, answering any question asked of him and helping out when Dean had trouble repotting a seedling because he lived in a flat and hadn't really had experience with plants, so the pair of them took good fun in the teaching and learning. Hermione just tried to do everything perfectly, and he just copied what Neville did because it was more efficient than what he knew to do.

Tuesday brought the eagerly-awaited letter, and Harry gave Hedwig several rashers of bacon and petted her, and murmured praises until she hopped up on his shoulder to have a chat with Quaiz. He then opened the letter and snickered to see his mum had written in High Gallifreyan, and wondered if she'd done it from habit or just to keep people from reading over his shoulder. He'd ask when he wrote back.

* * *

><p><em>My dear son,<em>

_I presume from your lack of response, that your mobile ceased operation at some point after you sent your message. Regardless, we are all relieved that you arrived safely, although I had hoped you would be sorted into Ravenclaw, rather than Gryffindor. I suppose I can blame the Doctor and his influence on you for that. He claims you're a natural-born trouble-magnet though, and insists I ought not blame him. I'm sure you can imagine the scoffing and eye-rolling he received for that. Pestiferous idiot._

_I am pleased, despite my failed hopes, that you can continue the close companionship of your friends, and presume you and they are doing well and learning everything you can. I wish Hedwig could fly faster as I miss you quite a bit, and without a working mobile, I find myself in a state of worry. Don't let my missing you influence you as regards to letting her deliver letters for your Dean and Hermione though. Also, the Doctor would like you to send what Donna has declared to be 'the poor dead mobile' back with your letter so he can see what happened. And, hopefully, do something beyond even my own skills to convince another to work better._

_We would all like to hear about the classes you have had thus far, and whether you've managed to restrain your temper with all those who, I have no doubt, have been gawking at you like brainless cretins. However, violence rarely solves anything, as I'm sure you remember. And I am confident that you will discern some means to keep the cretins from interfering with your enjoyment of the school and your education in magic._

_Also, do try and keep a balanced diet, and don't neglect your exercise. I am aware that there must be a multitude of staircases, since your school is in a castle, but that will only keep your legs fit. Mens sana in corpore sano is a universal truth even for Time Lords, after all. I will close this letter now lest I become disturbingly maudlin, but never forget that I love you very much._

_Your mother._

_PS - Your mum was being a pest, so I had to steal the letter. Love you, Harry, and don't forget to have fun as well as learn everything. Especially do your best to learn what the teachers __**don't**__ teach as that's always the most fun! Love, your Doctordad. Oh, and Donna says 'Hi', and see if you can start a footie league and a West Ham fanclub up there in shivery Scotland._

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><p>Harry grinned as he folded up the letter, then looked at his curious friends. "Just mum wanting to know how things are, being disappointed I'm not in Ravenclaw but glad I can stick with my friends, you know, the usual. She probably would've let Hedwig drop by your homes for letters if she hadn't been a bit worried because of the mobile dying right after I sent my text."<p>

"Well, it's amazing that it lasted long enough for you to even send one text, Harry. After all, _Hogwarts, a History_ does say that Muggle technology won't work at Hogwarts." Hermione commented, then returned to neatly eating her omelet.

"Yeah, but my dad swore it would work anywhere, so that it died here was a bit of a surprise. I'll have to wait to send my reply until I can retrieve my mobile and package it anyway, so if you two want to write letters home and send them along that's cool."

"I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that your mum's impatient to hear from you but doesn't want to make us use strange school owls?" Dean grinned and speared another sausage link from the platter nearby, earning a glare from Weasley, who apparently thought he should have the whole platter to himself.

"Pretty much. She knows Hedwig, and doesn't have a clue if school owls would even deliver to non-magical addresses. So after classes today, you two write if you want and I'll send Hedwig off tonight with everything." Harry grinned and speared two sausage links from the same platter, just to see if Weasley would glare at him too. Which he did, and got a group eye-roll for. Well, feline and avian versions of eye-rolls added to Harry's, anyway. Dean, Neville, and Hermione were too busy just then to join the crowd.

Pity, that. It would've made a brilliant picture, six pairs of eyes rolling in unison at one greedy ginger.

* * *

><p>Transfiguration on Tuesday mostly served as an introduction to the theory. They did get to practice a little, and Harry found himself having a trifling amount of difficulty. Well, to be honest, he actually was having a rather large problem with telling his magic to go through his wand instead of just doing what he wanted it to.<p>

He finally managed to squeeze some of his magic through his wand about ten minutes before class ended...but wound up with a foot-long needle instead of the matchstick sized needle he should have had. "Huh," he muttered as he stared at what would have been a lethal weapon if he hadn't made a foot-long embroidery needle. "Well, at least I've got that part figured out."

"Indeed you did, Mister Potter. And if you can return it to at least matchstick size, take five points for Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall said as she paused by his desk to see if he could manage the trick.

Returning it was much easier, and he grinned cheekily at the Professor as he first returned the needle to a matchstick, then shrank it back to proper size. Of course, he did wind up cheating just a bit on the shrinking by using his magic the way he was used to, but she didn't notice and it was nearly end of class anyway.

Defence was another class that, unless something changed soon, was going to be very dull and annoying. And again, because of the professor. Why would someone who stuttered so much be hired? It was hard to understand him, and he became very nearly completely unintelligible whenever talking about so-called 'dark creatures'. The Ravenclaws seemed equally annoyed, but they mostly just stuffed their heads in their books except for the rare times a question was asked.

After that class, Hermione huffed. "Honestly, he could at least see a speech therapist so we could understand him. Did anyone else understand more than two words out of five?"

"Before Seamus asked him about the zombie, I could. Well, mostly," Harry said with a shrug. "Met a lot of people harder to understand than him."

"Well, except for Hermione, the rest of us will be borrowing your notes then," Dean grinned and ducked a half-hearted swat from their bookworm, female variation. "Hey, it makes sense to let the ones who can get sense out of what the professor's saying to get the notes and share them around, right?"

With the discussion about notes and attempting to decipher a stammer, they were nearly late to Charms. Despite that, Charms was brilliant. All theory at the moment, yes, but it was amazing how much their comparatively tiny Professor, Flitwick, knew. And as Harry found out at the end of class, he was extremely competent at answering questions that attempted to plumb the depths as well as teach the basic theory to a class-full of children of variable intelligence. He was really looking forward to Saturday and his chat with the Headmaster and Professor Flitwick.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mum, Dad and Aunt Donna<em>

_I'm fine, really, and I miss all of you lots. Now, I'm sure you want to know about the trip to school as well, so here goes. The train ride was awesome, and we met another nice guy named Neville Longbottom on the train. Looking for his lost toad, and yes, people actually do keep toads as pets. I think it's because he's scary good with plants and toads eat bugs, but I'll have to do a survey or something to see if that's worthy of being an hypothesis._

_Also met two gormless gits on the train, bleh. One decided he had to call me a liar when he tried to force his way into our compartment, and we went round and round for several minutes, bloody arrogant p'zakyic. Still, at least he was brave enough to come on his own - the other annoying git had to have two apparently moronic cretins as bodyguards, the whinging ponce. 'Bow down and worship me because my daddy's rich and can kill your parents' and all sorts of other nonsense like that. I was -so- tempted to give him our address just so I could give him smug looks in a couple of weeks when his precious murdering father never made it back home. Hmm...I wonder if the father uses as much hair product as the son, and what affect that would have on the wanker becoming a tree?_

_As for the school itself - it's amazing! Awe-inspiring, brilliant...there simply aren't enough superlatives to add on to tell you just how absolutely fantastic this castle is! It's got hidden passages (though I haven't found any on my own yet. Send sonic screwdriver when you figure out how to keep it from shorting out!), fake doors, doors that only open on certain days or if you tickle them or answer a riddle or any other of a number of things, and the portraits move and talk! Soooo cool, especially with the nicer ones that give directions. I really need to find out what sort of magic allows for that, because they all have personalities and can move to different portraits to visit! There's lots of suits of armour about the castle too, but they haven't done much yet where I could see them. Shame, that - it'd be brill to see them do a quadrille or march in formation or something._

_As for classes...honestly, it's only Tuesday. I haven't had a chance to have sampled all my classes yet! But of the ones I have, I like Herbology and Transfiguration and Charms, though it took me nearly all of Transfiguration's practice time to figure out how to channel my magic through the wand instead of doing it naturally. Did finally do it, and though it's harder to use, it's also stronger that way, so wands really are amplifiers. I wound up with a foot-long embroidery needle because of the amplification effect though - I pushed the amount of magic through my wand that I would use if I was changing a matchstick to a needle without it. Oops. I did get complimented though, and five points for undoing it. Hermione got five points too, she managed to make her matchstick into a needle before I figured out how to channel my magic through my wand. _

_History, though, is deadly dull. Seriously - it's taught by a ghost, and he's teaching straight out of the book too - I had to point that out to Hermione, or she'd have nagged Dean, Neville and I to annoyance about not paying attention. Though we might have had more luck trying subliminal learning like most of the rest of the class. Shall bring pillow next time and test it. And yes Mum, I will actually read the book too. Send more history books to save me from death by dull recitals from a hundred-year-old text!_

_Defence against the Dark Arts was supposed to be a brilliant class, but the teacher stutters and stammers so badly that he's very hard to understand, even with TARDIS translation helping. Still, the book is decent, and as long as he can contain his linguistic difficulties when teaching us the spells, it should be bearable._

_Charms...oh, charms is going to be SO much fun! We had a completely theory lesson, but the teacher is very very good at explaining the theory,and answering all my more in-depth questions, and we should be starting to learn the magic classified as charms soon. Will send my notes home if you want. Also, I'm going to be seeing him again on Saturday, so I can show him and the Headmaster my light-globe so we can figure out how it's different from the established spell._

_Not looking forward to Wednesday, but at least there aren't any afternoon classes. It's so we can get a nap before taking Astronomy at midnight, or that's my current hypothesis. Either that, or it's a built-in essay-writing time. Which is what I'll be doing, if I'm not exploring the library, which is huge, by the way. Thursday is going to be sensible, no early-morning classes and Charms and Transfiguration in the afternoon. _

_I have to confess, I'm a bit worried about Friday. Potions with the Slytherins, which is where the wanker and his bully-boys went. And the professor is Head of Slytherin, and supposedly despises Gryffindors and favours the Slytherins to an extreme. Am brushing up on all the texts you let me bring, and being ever so thankful that we've actually brewed all the way up to third year. Shall see if Dean, Hermione and Neville want potions theory and ingredient preparation practice before then. And that'll be followed up by Herbology, yes, we get to play with plants three times a week, and it's currently Neville's favourite class. Fitting, because he's -brilliant- with plants! And then Friday afternoon is completely free, with no classes on the weekends._

_Write back soon, and I hope Dad can figure out how to fix the mobile so it'll work! And yes Aunt Donna, we're going to start feeling out how to get more people than just us interested in a game of footie. Not sure if we can set up a West Ham fan club though._

_Love all of you!_

_Harry._

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><p>Harry smiled as he tied his letter to a small box that held his shorted-out mobile, then scritched Hedwig while he waited for Dean and Hermione to bring their letters for their families. Once they'd done so and Hedwig had flown off after preening his hair into standing spikes (rather like his dad, he thought), the four friends - when Neville had managed to escape Ron and Seamus' game of exploding snap - worked on the homework they'd already been given to get ahead, and Dean and Hermione started their Muggle coursework.<p>

The rest of the week, except for Astronomy on Wednesday night, was pretty much the same, except for squeezing in potions review and he'd been right that his friends would need practice with ingredient preparation. The Weasley twins had been helpful in preventing waste of ingredients there - they'd overheard the four of them talking, and shown the group the way to the kitchens where the house-elves had been pleased to let them practice on vegetables.

Of course then they had to listen to Hermione being offended that they were slaves, which almost got them kicked out of the kitchens except that Harry and Dean had asked the right questions, which revealed house-elves to have a symbiotic relationship with wizards. Somehow - and Harry still wasn't quite clear on the mechanism - being bonded to wizards (or the school) stabilised the house-elves' magic so that it didn't go wild and drain away, thus killing them. It was sad that an entire race hid itself away to do cooking and cleaning and stuff, but the Hogwarts house-elves were extremely happy so that had to count for something.

Friday came way too soon, and Ron and Seamus, plus Hermione's dorm-mates Lavender and Parvati, who'd all turned down the preparation that the rest of them were doing, were fretting nervously. Neville was fretting nervously too, but that was because older students had taken to telling tales of how nasty Professor Snape could get and he was worried that he'd be singled out in class. Dean, Hermione and Harry himself were pretty calm, although worried that the professor would jump on Neville for being extra nervous. Although he did calm down somewhat when Hermione told him that either she or Harry would sit right by him, just in case.

* * *

><p>They found the class easily enough, and Harry very nearly didn't make it back to his seat before Professor Snape entered, he was so busy looking at all the pickled animals up close. He did make it though, and got treated to a sarcastic roll call, followed by the most enticing introduction to the subject.<p>

And then an impromptu pop quiz.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

One of Harry's eyebrows went up, and he thanked his recall abilities as he swiftly found the answer in his memory. "Along with other ingredients, an extremely powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death."

"Hmmph," Snape snorted. "And where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

That same eyebrow stayed elevated, but Harry replied calmly. "The stomach of a goat is what they are taken from, and will save you from most poisons. However, the book didn't say if the bezoar stone was only found in goats raised by wizards, or if it was found in the stomachs of all goats."

"It's found in the stomachs of all goats, Potter," Snape hissed. "How else do you think they eat anything and everything they get their mouths on?"

Harry let his eyebrow fall back to normal and nodded his head in an almost-bow. "Thank you, Professor. That will save myself and my mother a bit of a messy experiment."

This time it was Snape's eyebrow that went up. "Indeed? So, Potter. Perhaps you can also tell the class what the difference is between monkshood and wolfsbane."

Harry smiled at that. "The season in which it's harvested. They are the same plant, which is also known as aconite." He was tempted to ramble on about it, but it seemed rather like pushing his luck. Professor Snape was agitated by him for some reason, and he didn't want to tempt the man into removing points for answering too much.

For a moment it looked like Snape was going to take points anyway, but he refrained. Instead, he met Harry's eyes and Harry almost thought he saw approval in them for a microsecond. "I see you actually read a book, instead of expecting to coast through on your fame, Potter."

"I did indeed, sir. Because fame is unimportant, Professor." With the evidence before him that Snape was expecting him to be some sort of braggart, he thought that his reply was wisest. Respectfully let the man know that he himself didn't expect special treatment, and perhaps he'd ease up on the glaring a bit. Eventually. Harry hoped so, anyway, because he could feel Neville frozen in fear beside him.

"Quite so. There is no room in my class for swelled heads - and why aren't the rest of you writing down the answers to the questions I asked?" Harry watched as the entire class (except for Hermione) scrambled for quill and parchment as Snape turned in a billow of robes and stalked to the board to write the instructions for the day's potion.

After that, the class seemed to go all right. Snape was praising Slytherins, which they'd all expected from the warnings of older Gryffindors, Harry prevented Neville from adding his porcupine quills too early, Hermione's potion came out just about perfect, as did his own, Dean and Neville's potions were all right, and just as he thought they were all going to escape unscathed, Snape lambasted Ron and Seamus for putting their porcupine quills in too late. They lost five points for that, and Hermione was bristling at the unfairness of it all. Fortunately Dean stepped on her foot before she could complain and get more points taken off.

Finally the end of class came, and even the Slytherins were quick to leave. Harry murmured to Neville that he was going to ask the Professor a question, and smiled a bit as he passed it on which resulted in his friends waiting at the door for him.

Harry slung his packed bag over his shoulder, then approached the desk Snape was sat behind. "Sir? I've a few questions I wanted to ask you, if you have the time to answer them."

"Ask and be quick about it, Potter. I've another class in fifteen minutes," was Snape's snapped reply.

"Thank you sir. First question - are you the Severus Snape who wrote _Potions Ingredients and Their Interactions_, and likewise publishes articles in _Potions Quarterly_?"

"Technically that is two questions, Potter, but yes." Snape raised an eyebrow and sneered at Harry. "Surely, even as intelligent as the Headmaster claims you are, you don't understand those articles?"

"Not entirely, sir," was Harry's sheepish reply. "I get the general thrust behind each one though - it's my mother who fully understands your genius."

"Your mother is dead, Potter." The sneer was on full this time, but Harry thought he caught a picosecond's worth of sadness before the sneer refreshed itself.

"My birth mother, yes sir. But my mother is the one who raised me. And she thinks you're a genius, and she's never wrong about intelligence. Which leads to my second question - why is a genius teaching beginners? I'd think you could have an apprentice deal with all of us, and you could devote your time to those who know what they are doing and love the subject."

"None of your business, Potter. Now if that's all, I suggest you leave." Snape, even seated behind a desk, could pull off menacing very well.

And though Harry had faced down some menacing monsters in his time, thanks to his dad, he knew better than to push his luck this time. So he simply nodded, wished the professor a good day, and did his best not to rush on his way back to his friends.

* * *

><p>"Did you find out what you wanted to know, Harry?" Hermione asked as they got outside the castle and headed for Herbology.<p>

"Yep. Well, half of what I wanted to know, at least. I still want to know why a genius is having to get all annoyed at needing to teach a bunch of firsties basic stuff he could do in his sleep though. But he wouldn't answer that."

"Well, if anyone was still in doubt about why you're in Gryffindor, just tell them you asked Snape that." Dean snickered and shook his head. "That takes brave to a whole new level!"

"I couldn't...I wouldn't dare," Neville added, shoulders slumped. "Professor Snape's too scary."

"Ah, I'm sure you could ask him questions you really wanted to know," Harry said and slung his arm around Neville's shoulders. But they were nearly to Herbology by then, so he couldn't finish bolstering Neville's opinion of himself. Maybe he should ask Donna how to raise someone's self-esteem...next letter, he promised himself.

And of course after Herbology was lunch - and Hedwig arriving with a box and letter each for himself, Dean and Hermione. They were shrunken, which Harry thought was weird until he read the note attached to his. _These are very handy boxes. Shrink on the spoken word, unshrink when tapped with a wand. Useful for sending treats from home. Love, Aunt Donna._

The three of them arranged to see what their parents had sent later on, and assured Neville that of course he could share with them. Especially after Dean waxed lyrical about his hopes of what his mum had sent him...but they were, after all, eleven. And sweets have a way of encouraging even the shyest young wizard to try something new.

After lunch Dean and Neville agreed to visit Harry and Hermione's second home, and they wound up agog for a quarter-hour at the sheer size of the library. Then of course they were off and hunting for their favourite subjects. Dean found out that Hogwarts didn't have much on art, but what they did have was fascinating, and they nearly had to drag Neville out of the Herbology section.

Then they did their homework, finding it much easier to work at tables than to try and write essays in the common room, even if the chairs and sofas there were much more comfortable. Which left two hours before dinner to explore the grounds and see if they could find a place to play a good game of football in.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own it not, nor do I make money from this fic. It's all for fun, and I always put everyone back where I found them, whether that's with J.K. Rowling or the BBC :)

AN: I am so, so sorry for the extremely long wait, please see my profile for the reason as I don't feel like repeating my tale of woe. Although, on the plus side, I actually got this chapter finished, as well as halfway through the next. :)

I'm especially proud of the troll bit this chapter. And I've never really seen anyone dispose of the troll in quite this manner, either. Likely I'm either too busy writing or being netless to have read it, but still. Quite proud of that moment. :)

Once more I've accidentally hijacked something that isn't mine because it sounded cool when I wrote it before I remembered why it did. 'Skydiving to conclusions' was originally conceived by Sarah1281 in her fic 'Oh God Not Again!'. A good, funny read and I highly recommend it.

Love to all you reviewers and readers!

* * *

><p>Green and Red<p>

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mum, Dad and Aunt Donna<em>

_Things have been busy here. I'm having a brilliant time in classes - except for History and Defence! I suppose Professor Binns can't help being boring, cos he's a ghost, but thanks for the extra History books anyway - we might just pass this class instead of failing due to sleeping through it. Defence has no reason to be so boring and annoying though. Professor Quirrel and his stutter are going to drive me bonkers yet. And...Mum, do you have any idea why I might get occasional flashes of pressure from where we walled off that psychic leech that you won't remove yet? It's only happened when Professor Quirrel's around, so far, but I didn't want to skydive to conclusions and say it's all his fault without getting a second opinion or more data. I know how it annoys you when Dad does that._

_My Saturday visits with Professor Dumbledore (and quite often Professor Flitwick) are going brilliantly too. They are SO BRILLIANT when it comes to not only understanding why magic does what it does, but explaining it so that someone of a scientific bent can understand it from their point of view. I really should've written about this part sooner, because Professor Flitwick figured out what I was doing with that light-ball of mine. I'm conjuring neon gas and stimulating it with magic instead of electricity, but since it's conjured the gas goes away immediately on dismissal, so there wasn't any residue for us to detect. And since the light-ball fried the sensors the times we tried to test it, we couldn't figure out what it was doing that way. Apparently the key for him to figure that out was that I could do colours with it, like neon signs - the one that they use a spell for can't do colours. See attached notes for everything I've learnt so far. Anyway, that's one mystery down, only a million more for me to solve!_

_Aaand, you were all wondering if I was ever going to get a lesson in flying, and we just did this past week, and I can now say that it's brilliant! Except for the fact that poor Neville got a bad broom and crashed - going to have to work on that. His fear of crashing again, not the bad broom, it got removed from the batch. But after he was taken to the hospital wing for his broken wrist, Malfoy was going to take Nev's remembrall and leave it somewhere...so I kinda sneakily made him trip before he could take flight. He broke the school's broom, and I caught the remembrall when it went flying. Nev was thrilled to have it back...Malfoy, not so much. Tried to blame me for the broom breaking, when even the other Slytherins said it was impossible cos I was nowhere near him. Little do they know..._

_Malfoy's going to be a problem, probably, until I swat him so thoroughly he can't ever get back up again. Thinks he's good enough to be a feared nemesis - watch me laugh myself sick. After flying class, he tried to challenge me at dinner to a duel at midnight in the trophy room. As if the little poncy p'lerik didn't think that anyone could see the trap in that. Anyway, laughed my arse off for a minute straight, got the entire dinnertime crowd's attention, then thanked him for being so funny with that joke of his. When the useless berk tried to claim his challenge was real and I was a coward, I just announced to the entire hall that a midnight duel in the trophy room was impossible, cos a) I'd be asleep at midnight, 2) it was disrespectful to Mr Filch (the annoying caretaker with a disturbing penchant for speaking longingly of torturing miscreant students), and [iii] that I didn't trust Malfoy to show up at all, as he was cowardly enough to demand a duel at midnight in the first place._

_Then I said if he wanted a duel so badly, I'd oblige him anytime before curfew and sat back down to eat. Then he pulled his wand to try a spell at me right there, and got points off and detention, and Professor Snape looked murderous. Probably because Malfoy was so lacking in cunning as to not only fail to succeed in pulling off a cunning plot, but was stupid enough to try something when everyone was watching. Sooo, Malfoy's in trouble. And an idiot, but I already knew that. Now the rest of the school does too, hah! I was tempted to laugh again when Prof. McGonagall came down on him like a very heavy thing, but I have a tentative truce with Prof. Snape, and didn't want to spoil it._

_Yup, truce with Prof. Snape. Because I went into a tirade one class period about not paying attention to what one was doing in a dangerous class (Seriously, it's as dangerous or moreso than chemistry if you get something wrong.) The melted cauldrons and explosions are quite fun though, and if I could determine how to replicate some of the better booms safely...well, anyway. Truce with Professor Snape, mostly cos of that, but I think partly cos of his correspondence with you, Mum._

_Oh yes, last bit of interesting - got bored when I couldn't sleep, went roaming the school, and found a Cerberus guarding a trapdoor in the forbidden section of the castle. He's seriously awesome, but he's tethered somehow...or else he's trained enough to not attack if someone doesn't go in. Wonder where they found him...and yes, I know, I've already got Quaiz and Hedwig, I don't __want__ a three headed puppy for Christmas. The upkeep when he got beyond puppy size would be horrendous. But still, seriously cool to see, and I bet he's Hagrid's. Only someone as big as he is would keep a three headed dog that stands fifteen hands high at the shoulder._

_Anyway, that's all the news from here - write back soon and let me know what the three of you have gotten up to! And Mum, let Dad take you with him and Aunt Donna sometime - it's not all life-threatening occurrences with him. It just seems that way._

_Love,_

_Harry_

_PS - Dad? Have you had a chance to figure out what went wrong with the mobile this time?_

_PPS - Aunt Donna, could you please send more of those death-by-chocolate brownies? We're out of chocolate frogs, and the upper years are being a bit testy about getting us more from Hogsmeade. I suppose I could always buy with owl order...but your brownies are so much better than animated chocolate. So...please?_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Harry,<em>

_As pleased as I am to see you've been attending your studies, both curricular and extra, must you leave out important information? Times and frequency of the pressure from the psychic leech would help immensely. And while the notes of your extra-curricular studies are much appreciated, more detail would be even more so. And why must you become more and more like your father? Honestly, deliberately going where you were told there was something dangerous just to see what it was...JUST like your father!_

_At any rate, yes, the truce you have with Professor Snape is quite likely only possible because of the opening said correspondence gave me to explain you to him. Although your diatribe on the importance of paying attention in potions class likely cemented the point I'd been attempting to make to him. Apparently your birth father was an horrible person to Severus while they were attending school, and he - Severus, I mean - holds grudges as well as I do and was presuming you would be just like your birth father. Hopefully now he will see you as your own person-_

_Hah! Stole the letter and managed to get away - don't have long though, Harry, sorry. Keep on discovering who you're going to be, but I think you really ought to tell us who Hagrid is...and just why were you exploring the castle late at night without your friends? Didn't you think they might want to see a brilliant three-headed dog too? And I'm beginning to think that a mobile is just too small to stand up to such high-energy fields as permeate your school, though I won't know for sure until one or both of us manage to get up there and scan the area. Have to see if Hedwig will drop some beacons for us to use to get a TARDIS up there...or actually more likely your mother, who's just now found me and wants the letter back, so rather than make her angrier than she already is, I'll just close out my part. Lots of love, and keep learning and having fun! Dad._

_...wretched idiot. Why I put up with him...well, at any rate. Three-headed dog - kindly take photographs and, if it can be managed safely, a sample. You may not wish one for a Christmas present, but I wish to determine just how such an animal can exist, much less sustain and reproduce itself. BUT DO NOT PUT YOURSELF AT RISK! I can live without a sample of a new species far easier than I can tolerate yourself being injured to indulge me. And yes, having seen just how large Hagrid is, I agree that it is likely his. _

_It's your aunt Donna now - your dad said something stupid, again, and your mum's shouting at him. Again. Honestly, and people confuse me and him for being a couple...they ought to see these two acting just like a divorced or separated couple. Only been one person so far who didn't think we were a couple, and he thought your dad and I were brother and sister. Which we might as well be - he's loads more than just my best mate ever, now. But not a romantic interest! He's way too skinny for one, and he never shuts up... _

_Anyway, we've been to another planet, in the future, and the Ood are lovely. Even if they do look like Cthulhu spawn, what with the tentacles where mouths should be, and their brains in their hands...too weird for words, really. But absolutely lovely people no matter how weird they are to simple old me. It was brilliant, helping them be free from centuries of oppression and slavery! And yes, I can make you lot more brownies...I'll send a triple-batch, and you four can be all smug and tell the upper years to piss off. No buying you treats from the village, no getting homemade goodies in trade. I do love those shrink-boxes we found...right. They've stopped shouting, and they're probably glaring at each other, so I'll give the letter back to your mum now to head off extra grudge-holding. Love, Aunt Donna._

_No, my son, I am not going to go travelling with your father and Donna anytime soon. Currently I would strangle the idiot before we got anywhere. And no, I am not going to discuss our argument, it wasn't at all civilised. As for Professor Quirrel, don't spend more time than necessary for classes around him - in afterthought, I am very uneasy regarding the pressure from that psychic leech, especially if he is the only one it occurs around. So uneasy that if I did not have the sensation that it was necessary to leave it as-is a while longer, I'd remove it at the holidays. Continue the walling-off exercises, and we'll see about doing more to block it off when you come home. _

_Now for maudlin sentimentality. I miss you inordinately and wish that your father and Hedwig weren't so pigheadedly stubborn about taking beacons up to Hogwarts unless they are absolutely necessary. As they - especially Hedwig - remain adamant in their refusal to do so, I can only send my affection in written words, rather than deliver it in person. _

_All my love,_

_Your mother_

_PS - We are going to send one last mobile attempt with the brownies Donna is sending - your father, astonishingly enough, had an idea while we were arguing, which is what made us stop. Hopefully this one will work. _

_PPS - Like your mum said, I had another idea. Hopefully this time it'll work - I really don't want to find out that Hedwig really is as intelligent as she looks when she's perched there and glaring at us. Anyway, text to test it out, then if it survives sending the text, give us a ring, all right? (And yes, your mum is sulking about Hedwig - and it -was- mostly Hedwig - refusing to take beacons up unless this mobile refuses to work. Really quite amusing, watching her glare and pout at an owl.)_

* * *

><p>Harry glanced at Hedwig when he'd finished reading his letter, and asked. "So, why <em>won't<em> you bring anything but letters and goodies and the occasional mobile?"

Hedwig ruffled her feathers, nipped his ear, then preened his hair. A lot. And after that, she used a wingtip to wipe his chin, even though he didn't have anything on it. He thought about that a minute, then laughed. "Yeah, Mum would take unhealthy advantage of that, wouldn't she?"

Hedwig barked her agreement and leant into the scritching her human was giving her, then hopped off his shoulder, stole a sausage right out from under Weasley's fork, and took flight for the Owlery.

"Your owl bloody well stole my sausage!" Weasley growled.

"Plenty more on the platter," Harry shrugged off the redhead's ire, fed Quaiz a sausage, and returned to his normally scheduled breakfast conversation. "So, looking forward to Charms today?"

"Oh yes," Hermione exclaimed. "We get to learn the levitation charm!"

"Only been wanting to learn that since Trevor pulled another escape-attempt and Professor Flitwick sent him flying around the room," Dean added. "Really looking forward to learning it."

* * *

><p>The Halloween feast was interrupted before it could even really begin by Professor Quirrell sprinting into the Great Hall. He ran all the way to the Staff table, clutched it and gasped out to Headmaster Dumbledore, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know." He then promptly collapsed in a faint.<p>

During the mass panic from the student body, and while Dumbledore was setting off firecrackers, Harry was staring at Quirrell with narrowed eyes. Something was askew there, but he wasn't quite sure what; the faint was a fake, but there was something else...something he couldn't quite pinpoint. Although it was definitely something to do with the psychic leech attached to his scar. He was concentrating on it so hard that he missed the announcement that the students should return to their common rooms and had to be tugged along by Dean and Neville.

Halfway up the first flight of stairs, he came back to himself and looked at his friends, then the rest of the first-years, safely ensconced in the middle of the Gryffindor pack. Er, pride, since they were supposed to be Lions. "Weasley's not here."

"Never made it to the feast, mate," Dean replied after his own check. "Don't suppose he's still in the toilets, do you?"

"Could be," Neville shrugged. "Fred and George were snickering before Professor Quirrell came running in like that."

"Yes, there's something odd about that," Hermione chimed in. "Not Fred and George, but Professor Quirrell. I'm pretty sure people don't fall that slowly or neatly when collapsing in a faint."

"Well yeah, usually it's a boneless thud to the ground, and falling backwards, not falling almost gracefully on one's face. Now if I could just get the rest of what's bothering me about him to come to the surface...well, anyway!" As the group rounded a corner to go down a hallway, he nudged his group of friends out to the side of the mass of students, then dragged them all into the alcove behind a suit of armour. "You lot can go catch up if you want to, I've got to go find Weasley and get him back to the common room. I know he's a toe-rag, and a bit of a useless tit," he continued as his friends - especially Hermione - protested, "but we'd all feel horrible if he took a wrong turn and ran into that troll."

"He'd likely get along with it just fine, the stupid berk," Hermione muttered, but stayed with Harry along with Dean and Neville. As Harry looked at all three of them, they shrugged.

Neville said, "Well, I don't want to feel bad for him. Not to mention the amount of trouble you'd get in..." He trailed off as Dean pretty much finished his thought.

"You're more than a bit of a trouble magnet. Someone - or someones - level-headed has to be around to keep you safe." Dean smirked a bit, and shrugged at Neville apologetically.

"So - all four of us then?" Harry stared at his friends for a moment, then an enormous grin stretched over his face, a similar grin to his father's - both of them, actually, had his birth father ever been in that sort of situation. "Right then, let's start looking for the ginger prat. Second floor toilets first then, since he went running off after Charms?"

"Sounds like a plan," Dean nodded as they all headed off, wands drawn. "Wonder how the troll got in though? Aren't they supposed to be really stupid?"

"That's why Weasley would get along fine with it," Hermione huffed, still stinging from being called a nightmare earlier that day when all she'd been doing was trying to help the ginger prat. "Still, the castle's supposed to be protected, so someone would have had to have let it in past all of the security."

"Peeves, maybe? Troll couldn't hurt a poltergeist, so he might think it was funny." Neville puffed along at the rear of the group, still in poor shape as compared to the rest of his friends, though he'd much improved since he'd started playing footie with them.

"Maaaybe," Harry frowned and motioned for everyone to get behind a statue of a griffin, just in time as Snape went hurrying past mere seconds after Neville had squeezed in. Harry peeked out after Snape had gone by and frowned as he realised the man was headed for the third floor. "But with the way Professor Snape's rushing for the third floor, I'm willing to bet it was let in as a distraction for someone to go find out what's down that trapdoor that Cerberus is guarding."

"I still want to know who keeps a bloody great dog like that, and whose bright idea it was to keep it in a school behind a door that an overachieving first-year could unlock," Dean said. "No offence, Hermione, but most of us just don't obsessively study ahead like you and Harry."

Mollified before she could really get upset, Hermione just huffed a little, glad that she could - if not get them all to study ahead - at least get her friends to study the assigned work. Then she ran into Harry, who'd stopped abruptly. "What...?"

Then the three of them saw what had made Harry stop. Twelve feet of troll was standing there in the hall, and Hermione almost gagged as the reek pouring off it reached the four of them. Dean and Neville were frantically pulling their jumpers up over their noses, but Harry just stood there with his nose wrinkled at the stench, lips curled in a grimace of disgust. He'd smelled worse, after all, though usually that was sewers. Then he frowned, because the troll was moving toward the very toilets they'd come to check. "Please go in the girls' toilet, please go in the girls' toilet," he muttered, over and over as it slowly ambled to the doors, massive club dragging behind it.

All four of them held their breaths as the troll paused at the door to the boys' toilet, then let their breaths out in a sigh of relief as the huge manky thing moved on to the girls' toilet and went inside. Harry counted to five, then ran forward, carefully pulled the door quietly shut, then locked it with a quick burst of wandless magic. As his friends quietly cheered, he darted over to the boys' toilet, opened it, then quietly called out. "Weasley! If you're in there you need to get out fast! There's a troll in the school - more specifically, in the girls' toilet next door - and we've got to get out of here before it tries to get out!"

"Pull the other one, Potter! A troll, in Hogwarts?" Weasley snorted as he came out of the stall - the Loose Bowels hex he'd mysteriously been hit with earlier having _finally_ worn off - and rolled his eyes when he saw the Boy who Lived to Reject his Friendship standing in the door. Ignoring the warning, he went to the sinks to wash his hands.

"Oh I know you're dense, but surely you can't be -that- stupid!" Harry was ready to scream in frustration, but then there a roar from the girls' toilet, accompanied by the smashing of porcelain and splintering of wood. "See - or rather, hear? Troll. Right next door. I think hygiene can wait, don't you?"

A very pale Ron Weasley nodded, and didn't even bother shutting off the tap, much less drying his hands before joining Harry at the door. The rest of his friends were there too, and all three of them were eyeing the door to the girls' toilet with quite a lot of worry at the sounds of smashing and roaring. All five of them jumped when the troll's club impacted the door, and Harry smacked his head with his hand.

"Just couldn't stay distracted another minute, could it? Right, long way 'round, come on! Allons-y!" He shoved everyone down the hall, and once they were all running, he took off to join them - just as the door cracked and the troll started to shove it's way out of the girls' toilet. "RUN!" he shouted as he caught up.

The five children ran down the hall, four of them barely repressing the desperate need to scream in fright as they needed their breath to keep up the pace. It was only after they'd gone up another staircase and around several corners that Hermione realised what Harry was up to.

"Ha-Harry, this is one of the ways to the forbidden corridor!"

"Yup!" Harry grinned, a mad grin that anyone who knew his dad would recognise immediately. Then he opened an abandoned classroom and shoved his friends and Weasley inside. "Now, you lot stay here since you're all out of breath. Just be very quiet and it should be all over soon. Me, I'm gonna wait and lead the troll right to that awesome Cerberus."

"Cerberus?!" Weasley squeaked. "That's what's in the forbidden corridor?

"Yup!" Harry was still grinning even as he pulled the door shut and used his wandless magic to lock the door and wipe away the scents of his friends. Then he stood there and waited for the troll, and as it started thundering down the hall toward him, took off running again. It chased him, not even stopping at the classroom, and he kept on running with that mad grin on his face, knowing his parents were going to ground him so hard he'd probably be grounded well into summer...yet he had to do it.

* * *

><p>When he cornered neatly into the forbidden corridor, he was astonished to see Professor Snape limp out of the dog's room. Still didn't stop him from shouting "Leave the door open, troll right behind me!"<p>

"You idiotic imbecile! Potter, fifty points from-" Snape was interrupted by the roar of the troll, and stepped to the side. He grabbed Potter by the collar, just as the brat was about to run into the room and pulled him to the side, both of them watching as the troll couldn't stop in time and ran right into the room.

To make the fight fair, before Professor Snape could shut the door Harry wandlessly yanked the club out of the troll's hands and into the corridor, and slumped in relief and exhaustion as the door slammed shut and numerous locking spells were applied to it.

"Wow, those were comprehensive, sir." Harry smiled up at the professor and hoped he hadn't ruined the truce they'd had.

"Quite," Snape snapped. "Now, you imbecilic little dunderhead, what, precisely, is so difficult to comprehend about the order to return to your common room?"

"Well, aside from the fact that Weasley was missing and was in the loo right next to the one the troll destroyed while we were fetching him, nothing at all sir. Oh, we need to stop on the way back and let them out...I kinda locked them in so they wouldn't get hurt." Harry was still grinning happily, and was far more relaxed than any child who'd just run from a troll should be.

"Oh, and I found out about the Cerberus cos I don't sleep as much as everyone else, and well...if the Headmaster really wanted to keep students out, then he shouldn't tell us about painful death lurking behind doors in the castle. Anyone with any curiosity at all, that's the first place they're going to go. So I was bored and I went and peeked, and he's awesome, and frankly I'm surprised I held out a month before going to look."

Having run out of breath, Harry sucked in a big one before continuing. "So, naturally, I figured since it was chasing me anyway, I'd set up a troll vs Cerberus cage match to keep it out of the way till the professors could find it." Harry bit his lip as the roaring and snarling from inside the room diminished, then ceased. "Hope he's okay, he's pretty awesome for a scary, three-headed guard dog."

"And what gave you that particular impression, you blithering idiot?" Snape sneered as he unlocked the door and peeked in. "Well. Well, well, well." Harry peeked in around the professor's arm, and made an appreciative 'ewww' noise. The troll was ripped to pieces, and the three heads were each contentedly gnawing on either an arm or a leg.

"Oh, sorry, you asked a question, didn't you," Harry said as he withdrew so Snape could shut and lock the door again. "Well, 'course he's a guard dog, he's there so that no one can get to that trapdoor under him without him getting them first. Oh, and sir, you're bleeding, so if you could conjure up some bandages, I can wrap you up till you can see Madam Pomfrey."

"Observant little nincompoop," Snape glared at the brat who he thought had finally started acting like James Potter, until he'd offered to help with his leg, and swished his wand to wrap his leg in bandages as he snarled. "Why are you still smiling?"

"Because you sound just like my mum when she's scolding my dad, sir. It reminds me of home," Harry sighed, then leant down to rub his ankle. He'd apparently managed to twist it on the way to the Cerberus' room, and just hadn't noticed till the adrenalin wore off.

"Indeed," Snape smirked most alarmingly. "I daresay I should inform her of her son's reckless behaviour in our next bout of correspondence." To avoid accusations of neglect, he brushed Potter's hand out of the way and used the same spell to wrap the ankle in bandages for support.

"Oh craznit," Harry groaned. Without Professor Snape telling Mum, he could have possibly managed to babble his way out of a grounding. Now? Not a chance. "...wonder if I can convince her that everything I'm gonna get for being out of bounds is bad enough punishment? Oh, and thanks for that." Harry smiled at Snape for the quite nice thought of wrapping his ankle. It'd be better by morning, but it was still nice of the professor. Which hopefully meant the truce was still standing.

"Knowing mothers, Mister Potter, I daresay you're going to wish to stay in the castle for the holidays. Or wish you had," Snape shepherded his deceased nemesis' odd son down the halls back to the room he'd left his friends in. There they met the Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Quirrel.

"Ah, Severus. I see you've located the other erring student. We were just about to let the others out of this classroom," The Headmaster gave Harry a subtle but significant glance, then waved his wand at the door.

Harry, shielded from Professor Quirrel's view by Professor Snape, gestured to unlock the door, and it banged open as all his friends plus Weasley tried to barge out to rescue him, barely stopping in time to avoid running into the group of adults.

"Hi guys," Harry chirped cheerfully. "Everything's all right now." Or rather, everything would be if he hadn't been tackled nearly off his feet by a tearful Hermione.

"Oh Harry, how could you?" Hermione sniffed, then started crying as she held tight to him, not minding that he had the usual boy awkwardness about what to do with a crying girl.

Harry tentatively hugged Hermione and murmured. "Had to, sorry for worrying you."

"Worry?" Hermione pulled back from the hug and, going from tears to anger in a heartbeat, slapped Harry on the arm. "I wouldn't have _had_ to worry if you hadn't shut us in that classroom!"

"Well yeah," Harry admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, and pretended he hadn't noticed the slap and wasn't worried about finding a bruise on his bicep later. "But the rest of you were having a hard time keeping up, and it really would've sucked to have gone to rescue Weasley only to have the troll hurt you all anyway."

"Quite so, Mister Potter," Dumbledore agreed, then became more serious. "We will be having a talk with all of you-" He paused, interrupted by Ron Weasley's growling stomach, followed by Neville's. "-tomorrow. Now, off to your tower, all five of you. I believe the house elves have sent the feast up to each common room."

The children sighed in relief and, with Professor McGonagall shepherding them, made it back to the Tower. Once they returned, the kids managed to evade notice while they got food, then went to an out of the way corner. Which is when they noticed that Weasley had stuck to them like a shadow.

"Something we can do for you, Weasley?" Harry asked as he sat down on a cushion.

"Yeah, there is," Ron said, while stood there with his drink and food. "Why did you come looking for me when you don't even like me?"

Harry shrugged and sipped his pumpkin juice and wished he'd asked the elves for some tea. "Because it was the right thing to do. Really scary thing to do, and I'm gonna get scolded but good when my parents find out...but it doesn't really matter, because it was the right thing to do. They," He waved his goblet at his friends. "Wanted to make sure I didn't get creamed by the troll while doing the right thing."

"Oh. Er, y'know...thanks. And...sorry for not believing you. About the troll, y'know," Weasley said, then turned around to amble off, only to almost run into Neville.

"Oh just pick a cushion and sit, Weasley. There's no free furniture out there tonight...too much going on." Neville brushed past him and sat on a cushion by Harry, leaving one open between him and Dean, because Hermione was sitting so close to Harry - to make sure he didn't run off _again_ - she was practically sat in his lap.

It wasn't a new friendship...but it might be the start of one, depending on what the future held.

* * *

><p>AN - Lookit, I just got Ron started on the road to being a decent human being! There's nothing like a troll to wake you up to smell the future. Or lack of one. And, despite the end of the chapter, this is not a Harry/Hermione. He's still ELEVEN and not even thinking about romance in any form. (Well, other than still trying to get his mum and dad together properly. ;) She's just freaked out because her first real friend and only real intellectual competition just about got himself killed. :P


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Pretty sure everyone knows by now that the BBC and J.K. Rowling own the originals. If not...well, you do now.

Author's Notes: Life and writer's block happen. And while I did have half of this chapter written ages ago, I simply could not make any progress on it at all until just recently. At any rate, there are intriguing developments, followed closely by Christmas...and a surprise present to beat all surprise presents. And egads, the Doctor actually got the Rani to take a trip with him! Oh, and a teensy-weensy, itsy-bitsy little spoiler for The Infinite Quest...but if you've never seen that animated DW adventure, I did sum up the spoilery bit so it should be understandable. :)

Also, Rumour of an Alchemist kindly informed me via PM, ages ago now, that the author Wrexscar had, in a fic titled 'The Time of Consequences', also had a Cerberus vs Troll occurrence. So I'm not as original as I'd thought. Still, it's very definitely not a commonly-used tactic for First Year's Halloween excursion and I'm still pleased with having thought of it. :D

Final note: Spit-take warning for this story's version of the Mirror of Erised scene. Seriously. Do not drink when you get to that part - I don't want to be responsible for drowned laptops, keyboards, or monitors. :D

Love to all my reviewers and readers!

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><p>Chapter 14: Christmas Surprises<p>

* * *

><p>"A troll." The Rani looked up from the three letters she'd just finished reading, kindly delivered by the impossible bird that hung about with that twit Dumbledore. "Harry. Went playing about. With a TROLL!"<p>

"Did he?" The Doctor looked up from the contraption he was fiddling with, a worried frown on his face. "Well that wasn't very responsible of him, was it? Did he say why?"

"Does it matter?" She glared at him and stood abruptly, which made him set his contraption on the coffee table, for safety's sake. "He went chasing after a TROLL! I knew I shouldn't have ever let him talk me into letting you hang about! He's turning out just like you!" The letters got crumpled, then thrown at the Doctor.

He fielded the wad of parchment, then started unravelling it while watching the Rani pace and fume. Fortunately she ended up by the French doors, glaring out at the snow-dusted patio, so he had a bit of time to try and find out what had happened. And, thankfully, Fawkes had hung about and was trilling softly. Maybe that would calm her down - magnificent creature, that phoenix. Even if he would keep refusing to be scanned, much less studied. "Just give me a moment to read the letters so we can be on the same page in this argument, all right?"

"Does it matter? How could he be so irresponsible?!" She huffed and spun round, and glared at him, arms folded, until Donna came down the stairs, hair a tousled mass and wrapped in a housecoat.

Donna sneezed, then gave them both a bleary glare. "Could you pair kindly SHUT UP? I'm trying to sleep off this cold!" She sneezed thrice more, wiped her nose with a tissue, then stumbled her way to the kitchen. She was up, she might as well have a cuppa.

"No I can't," the Rani hissed. "Harry went chasing a TROLL!"

"No!" Donna forgot her goal in her astonishment and worry. "Is he all right?"

"Harry's fine," the Doctor said, having had just enough time to finish all three letters. "He's got two weeks detention for disobeying instructions and chasing the manky thing, that's his words, by the by, but considering it was roaming freely around the castle, I'm pretty sure he saved more than the Weasley kid's life by making it chase him instead."

"He went chasing a troll," the Rani growled. "And it's all your fault!" She stalked toward the kitchen, and slapped the back of the Doctor's head en route.

"Ow! That hurt!" The Doctor rubbed the back of his head, then glared at Fawkes for making a sound like a snicker. "Not funny. Not funny at all."

* * *

><p>In the kitchen, Donna flicked the kettle on, then rubbed her itching eyes. "Seriously, is Harry all right? Other than driving you bonkers by chasing a troll?"<p>

"He's fine, save for a twisted ankle that was healed before we got the letter." The Rani glared at the kettle, attempting to use her ire to make it heat faster. "He also has detentions with Severus for the next two weeks."

"I'm guessing the firebird brought the letter letting you know?" With the Rani watching the kettle, Donna felt free to flump into a chair and rest her head on the table.

"A letter from that twit, one from Severus, and one from Harry. He's waiting quite patiently for us to write a return letter. Or possibly three. It's impossible to tell with that impossible bird."

"What I find most interesting," the Doctor said from the safety of the kitchen door. "Is that neither Severus nor Dumbledore so much as hinted as to why the troll was there for Harry to encounter."

"Oh, it's probably to do with whatever that wretched three-headed dog is there for," the Rani snapped as she set about making tea, dosing Donna's heavily with lemon and honey. "If the presence of that thing, and the announcement that was made at the welcoming feast don't spell out 'lure' in blazing obviousness, I'm sure I've completely lost all ability to discern tricks and traps."

Donna propped her head up with one hand, and cupped her mug with the other. "Should - achoo! - probably make sure Harry doesn't go fiddling about with it, then. I'm sure he'll remember his Greek Mythology sooner or later...didn't Orpheus get past a Cerberus with music?"

"He did indeed," The Doctor agreed with a nod as he finally deemed it safe enough to enter the kitchen. "And we should warn Harry off from it...problem is, how to do it without provoking his curiosity?"

* * *

><p>"I understand, from the tales of your friends, that it was entirely your idea to pursue the troll." Dumbledore looked at Harry over his half-moon glasses, twinkle completely absent for once.<p>

"Well, it wasn't exactly chasing the troll, sir." Harry stared back at him, and wondered exactly how many weekends of advanced discussion he'd miss because of this incident. "I mean, that's how it ended up, but in all fairness, it was chasing us."

"I quite understand your desire to keep a fellow student from harm, even if you don't like him. However, you ought to have informed a prefect at the very least."

"Sir, his own brothers didn't appear to realise he was gone. And time was of the essence." Harry heaved a sigh, then smiled ruefully. "Still, I probably shouldn't have let Dean, Hermione and Neville come along with me. That was reckless."

"Indeed." The Headmaster folded his hands on his desk, regarding Harry steadily. "And while you, like your friends, will be awarded ten points for chivalry, you, like your friends, will also be serving detention."

"Yes sir. Might I ask the terms of my detention?"

"I believe two weeks with Professor Snape will be appropriate. That will be two entire weeks, weekends included."

Harry was going to protest - he knew he'd lose some time, but two sessions?! Still, if he protested, he'd probably lose more, so after the first indignant moment of opening his mouth, he shut it again and murmured "Yes sir."

Finally the twinkle returned to the Headmaster's eyes, and Dumbledore even quirked a small smile as he said. "Come now, Harry, it won't be that bad. Imagine all the questions you'll have stored up."

"Well there is that, sir," Harry smiled at him, then fidgeted a bit. "So, I should be going now, yes?"

"I believe your friends are awaiting you to share their own tales of woe, yes." A hand waved toward the door, and he chuckled as Harry almost bolted for the door. "A final word, Harry?"

Harry paused at the door and turned about. "Yes sir?"

"I believe you deserve another fifteen points. For ingenious use of available resources in dispatching a threat."

"Thanks sir!" Harry beamed, then left the office, eventually to wend his way to the smaller west courtyard where his friends had promised to wait for him. Weasley was there too, but Harry barely noticed as he flopped down on one of the stone benches.

"Well?" Dean gave Harry a curious glance. "How bad was it?"

"Two weeks - full weeks, including weekends - with Professor Snape." Harry sighed and looked up at the sky. Oh, to have wings...or his own broom, that would do as well.

"Two weeks!" Four voices chorused, although Weasley was the most irate.

"I only got a week. With Madam Pince," Hermione said, frowning.

"Same with me, only with Professor McG," Dean said.

"Harry probably got two because he was the ringleader," Neville said, thoughtfully. "And I find it odd that we've all got detention with professors - or librarians - that we like."

"What'd you get, then?" Weasley asked, still frowning. "And it's not right that you lot got detentions for saving me."

"A week with Professor Sprout," Neville replied, shrugging. "And if you look at it from their point of view, we did break a lot of rules."

"Rules are made to be broken sometimes," Harry said with a smile. "And yes, it is odd that we've got detentions with professors we like. Although Professor Snape's probably going to make me gut things and clean cauldrons. And you can't forget, we didn't get points taken away."

"Huh," Dean said with a thoughtful look. "I actually got points. Ten for 'attempting to curb recklessness'."

"Me too!" "And me." Hermione and Neville said, simultaneously.

Four pairs of eyes looked at Harry, who mysteriously had Quaiz on his lap when the cat hadn't been there a moment ago.

"What?" Harry said, looking up from scritching his cat behind the ears.

"Did you get any points?" Weasley asked.

"Mmhmm. Ten for chivalry...and fifteen for 'ingenious use of available resources'," he said with a grin.

"Use of available resources?" Hermione frowned momentarily, then the confusion cleared. "Oh, of course! For leading the troll to the Cerberus!"

"Yup. So!" Harry clapped his hands and stood, barely noticing Quaiz climbing up to his shoulder. "What are we going to do in our last free hours today?"

* * *

><p>Harry spent the first half of November thoroughly exploring the castle floor by floor, after his detention with Professor Snape every night. Who could sleep after having to prepare rat spleens? Or scrub out manky messes that had been left to congeal in cauldrons? And besides, sleep was boring. Why sleep when he could be making a map of the castle?<p>

Not that he expected anything but the gross details to remain constant - he could feel that the castle was alive and likely to change things about a bit, just like his parents' TARDISes - but it was helpful in a general sense, and he was learning quite a lot about the school. And he kept finding all sorts of brilliant old books and other odds and bobs. Good thing the dimensionally transcendental pockets bit didn't go askew like the mobiles. Although the latest attempt at least let him send texts. Finally!

At any rate, this particular night he was mapping out the floor the library was on, and he slipped from room to room, noting down sizes and condition of each. One particular room, though, got his special attention and curiosity that particular night. It was completely empty, save for a large, ornate mirror, and that was very odd. His gaze flicked over the frame first, and he frowned at the inscription on it. "Figures it'd be a magic mirror," he muttered as he peered at the words. _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

He frowned in thought at the utterly odd inscription, as he'd been used to at least his mum's TARDIS translating anything odd he came across. Then he tilted his head and stared at it a moment more...and laughed softly. "Oh. Oh, cle_ver_! Disguise your purpose in mirror script - I show not your face but your heart's desire."

He rubbed his chin a moment, remembering his dad's tale of when he'd been travelling with Martha and they'd got stuck on a quest to find a ship that gave one the heart's desire, then shook his head. Doubtful there was a Great Old One involved in making this mirror, and it wouldn't hurt to see what magic would say his current heart's desire was...would it?

Naaah. Besides, if he walked away now, he'd always be wondering just what the mirror would show, and that would drive him completely 'round the twist and make him battier than his dad. So he walked closer until he was stood in front of it and stared at the sight. "But that's not...but...but..._how_?"

He stood and stared, jaw agape, at what the mirror showed him. Himself, jaw not agape, and a few years older. Two strangers stood to his mirror-self's left; the man had his messy hair, and the ginger woman had his green eyes, and they were both smiling wistfully. They were probably his birth-parents, but he couldn't be sure because he'd never seen pictures of them. And to his mirror-self's right stood his mum and dad, his mum's hand on his mirror-image's shoulder, his dad's arm wrapped around his mum's shoulders. Aunt Donna was to his mirror-dad's right...but since when did he want Aunt Donna to have a boyfriend? He didn't remember wanting that at all!

And who was this short, blonde, blue-eyed young woman stood in front of his dad, his free hand on her shoulder, and the pair of them beaming away? And why was Mum letting Dad stand there with his other arm around her? And smiling about it! Yeah, it was a tiny one, but Mum was smiling! With Dad in close proximity!

And why, when this blonde girl was a complete unknown, was she clear and perfectly perceptible while he could barely tell that the man with his arm around Aunt Donna _was_ a man?

Harry frowned and tilted his head completely to the right, studying the image, then repeated the process with his head completely to the left. Then he did a handstand and studied it upside-down. But nothing changed, except a bit of difference in perception - it was still the same image. Oh, for his very own sonic screwdriver! This mirror was going to drive him completely insane and make him get himself sectioned!

The familiar sounds of Mister Filch making his rounds shook him from his puzzling over the image, and he deliberately kept his back to the mirror while he waited for the caretaker to go on his way. The last thing he needed was to be spotted out way after curfew in a room with a mysterious mirror.

On his way back to Gryffindor Tower, he consciously didn't think of the image at all - it wasn't safe to do so when he had to keep an eye and ear out for Professors, Prefects, Mister Filch and Mrs. Norris. But the moment he reached the safety of the common room he started thinking about it again. He thought about it all the way up to his dorm room, while he changed into his pyjamas, and even while Quaiz and Hedwig purred and chuffed him to sleep.

Even in his dreams he kept puzzling about it, and when he woke the next morning to the sound of the other boys getting ready, he heaved a frustrated sigh. That mirror was driving him bonkers with what it'd shown him! And maybe that was the point of it - a sneaky, subtle, surreptitious way of finding out who was wandering around after curfew by watching who drove themselves bonkers for no apparent reason.

So he'd probably best not write home about it either. Mum would have kittens, and write irate letters, and then he'd be in detention until the school year ended. So, with all his will, he shoved that image to the back of his mind. He wouldn't worry about strange blonde girls or shadowy, indiscernable men snuggling his Aunt Donna.

He'd even make himself stop hoping he'd get his parents properly together, the way that mirror had shown him. Cruel mirror.

Besides, it'd be impossible to Mum-proof everything if Dad got her pregnant like the mirror showed, anyway.

* * *

><p>On the last day in November, Harry got a letter from home. That, in itself, wasn't unusual - text messages did have space limits, and Mum hated text shorthand. That Hedwig was also carrying three boxes and not fluttering over to Hermione or Dean was quite out of the ordinary. So, after divesting his owl of her burdens, he flashed a quick smile at Ron for passing over some bacon and sausage for her and opened the letter. It was a lot shorter than usual, and he frowned as he read:<p>

_My dear son,_

_Your blithering nitwit of a father has finally convinced me to attempt a trip with him. I undertake this trip with quite a lot of trepidation; however, as much as it galls me to admit it, he is right. I am quite bored without you here, and undertake this potentially dangerous excursion to keep him from worrying that I might do something he would find immoral and upsetting whilst he was gone._

_She's also threatened me with severe bodily harm if we miss picking you up for Christmas hols, so don't worry about that, Harry. You're still coming back home for Christmas. This is going to be brilliant, having your mum __**and**__ Donna with me! Oh, yes, the boxes. Two of them are stuffed full of Donna's magnificent treats, the other one has some heavily insulated scanners. I still want to know what's so odd about Hogwarts that won't let mobiles work properly, since they work fine in Diagon Alley, so if you'll take readings on the ambient energy that'd be brilliant! _

_It's Donna now, sweetheart. This is going to be one of the more...ah-hem, interesting trips I've taken with your dad, what with your mum coming along too. I just hope they don't start fighting all over the place again. Especially if we end up somewhere that frowns on arguing, and don't say that's impossible! Anything's possible when you've got all of time and space you might pop up in! I'll make sure they stay intact, and we will be back to pick you up from the train if I have to tie them both up and beg the Old Girl to get it done. Anyway, have fun, stay safe, try not to chase anymore trolls, and we'll see you when the train drops you off! Love, Aunt Donna._

_That's the one thing wrong with your aunt Donna, my son. She tends to the melodramatic; it is unthinkable that I should ever need to be tied up. And with both of us at the controls, I'm quite certain we shan't miss the date. If we do...well, no matter. We shan't miss and I shall be quite pleased to see you home again. _

_How distressing, I've become maudlin again. I shall end the letter now lest I do something dreadfully embarrassing._

_Love,_

_Your mother._

_And your dad. We'll try to bring you something brilliant home for Christmas!_

_And if they don't manage that on this trip I doubt it'd matter, what with all the other presents we've been picking up. Anyway, enjoy the goodies and we'll see you soon! Love, Aunt Donna._

It took a moment for the letter to really sink in, but once it did, Harry smirked and chuckled. "About time. Can't wait to find out where they're going."

"What's that, Harry?" Hermione looked up from her breakfast reading.

"Mum's finally going on a trip with Dad," Harry replied, grinning. "It's going to be brilliant!"

"But didn't they say where they were going?" She frowned. That was weird, but then again, so were his parents. Hers had said geniuses of that calibre tended to be a little weird...

"Probably couldn't say, secret squirrel stuff and all that. They'll tell me all about it over the Christmas hols, I'm sure." Harry grinned and fed Hedwig some more bacon, covering his sudden sense of uneasy anxiety. He wouldn't be able to write his family for two whole weeks! Or probably even text them, given Hogwarts' weirdness and the whole time-travel bit. Anything could happen in that time, and they wouldn't be there. He'd gotten used to them always being there...oh, why did Mum have to agree to go with Dad? He was going to be awfully lonely, even with his friends.

* * *

><p>Harry was a bit puzzled when he got to the other side of the platform and only saw his aunt Donna waiting for him, but he grinned and dashed over to give her a big hug. "Aunt Donna! Where's Mum and Dad?"<p>

"They stayed at home, squirt. They couldn't leave your early Christmas present alone, so I came by myself. I've had lessons on Bessie though, so no worries there." She ended the hug by holding him at arms' length and looking around them. "No trunk?"

"Nope. It wasn't necessary, cos I've got clothes and presents in my rucksack, and Quaiz where he always is," he raised his hand to pet his living fur stole. "So no need for the trunk. Hedwig already flew other presents home, and I've got more coming by owl-order, plus someone's going to take me shopping, right?"

Donna laughed at his cheeky grin. "Well I suppose we could squeeze in some shopping, yeah. Looks like you grew, too, so I'll have to measure you at some point."

"Only measure, right?" He waved at Hermione and her parents as they walked through the station, then at Dean and his parents. "I mean, we don't have to do clothes-shopping, right?"

"Only measuring, cos it's harder to get you to hold still for clothes-shopping than it is your dad when he's spotted some new gadget he wants to take apart."

"Good. Clothes-shopping is boring!" He grinned though as they walked outside into the crisp cold December air.

He plunked his rucksack and Quaiz's basket in the boot and hopped in the back of Bessie, fastening his seatbelt tightly. Dad and Mum he trusted driving Bessie, and the old car was in one piece so Aunt Donna did okay with her...but better safe than sorry.

Donna's mobile rang then and she answered it, then spent a minute on a very cryptic conversation before hanging up. "Sorry to delay the shopping, Harry, but that was your mum and she wants us back soon's we can manage without getting in a crash."

"Figured. I mean, we haven't seen each other in months and months!" Left unspoken was that he really, really missed his mum and would have been fidgeting the entire time they were shopping.

"Yeah, she misses you too, kiddo. So, let's get the top up, cos there's supposed to be snow before we get you home, then we'll see how fast we can get from here to Ockham."

"Oh no, don't tell me you're going to try and be Speed Racer!" Harry palmed his face as the top went up and Aunt Donna started the car. At that, Quaiz squeaked and slithered down to Harry's lap, where he threaded his claws into Harry's jeans.

"As if. Do I look like I want a speeding ticket in my personal past?" Donna scoffed and put the car in gear, then cautiously pulled out into traffic.

"Whew!" Harry mimed wiping worried sweat off his forehead, and stroked Quaiz until he relaxed. "I was a bit worried there, for a minute."

"Yeah, I know. Besides," Donna said with a wicked grin as she navigated London traffic. "Dangermouse is more my speed, anyway."

"Oh no." Harry groaned, and winced as Quaiz dug his claws in again. Donna plus any sort of speedy driving equalled terrifying!

She just snickered and asked him about how his year had been going so far, and if he'd made any more friends he hadn't mentioned yet. And, despite all his attempts to find out about it, she wouldn't tell him even a single tiny little tittle of information about what had happened when Mum had gone travelling with them.

All the way to Ockham, she kept that up, and all he had to show for his efforts was a mention that they'd gone two places before they decided to call a halt so as to not miss Christmas.

When they got home, Harry barely allowed Bessie to come to a stop before he was unbelted and dashing toward the house. It had been four whole months since he'd seen his mum and dad, and he wasn't going to waste another minute!

Once he was properly inside, though, he skidded to a halt before his parents could tell him to not run in the house. There, sitting on the sofa next to his dad, was the blonde girl with blue eyes that he'd seen in the mirror! He stood there, eyes bugged and jaw agape, just staring until his mum cleared her throat.

He went to her and hugged her tightly - after all, four months! But he couldn't take his eyes off the girl, and finally he managed to ask, "So...who's she?"

His dad cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, well...this wasn't intentional at all, but...happy early Christmas, Harry. This is your sister, her name's Jenny."

Harry stood there for a whole minute, mouth opening and closing without a peep, until he finally managed to squeak out, "You got me a WHAT for Christmas?!"

* * *

><p>Ending AN: *snickers* I could not resist. I just could not resist at all, one bit. This means that the Whoniverse is up to The Doctor's Daughter...even though it's even more AU than ever now, because I have a Saving Jenny thing :D<p> 


End file.
